Terrific KidsROCK Memory

I am going on vacation, but still want to offer a few fun posts while I am gone.  For the next several days there are music links for you to enjoy categorized by themes that make sense in my mind.  So, check back this week and share your own songs in the comments section, please.  I would love to hear from you.  Music is such a terrific language that so beautifully translates from heart to heart.

Since my vacation posts can’t necessarily be ‘current,’ I have chosen this first post to be about a KidsROCK happening that truly deserves to be documented for all time.  Picture wavy lines taking you back in time.

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It happened in the 07-08 winter on a sledding hill West of Susanville.  We were gathering for a family sledding day.  It was cold and the snow on the hill perfectly conditioned for several hours of fun.  We had a good turnout, complete with a new family of friends who made this their first KidsROCK event.

There is no need to urge kids to go down a hill on any manner of equipment.  I always pity some poor family coming upon a group our size swarming over the land the way we do.  None came this day, and did we swarm!  Most of the moms had gathered at the side half way up the hill to keep our hot cocoa and little ones guarded and at the ready.  

More than half-way through our time on the hill our Vice President discovered that two of our moms hadn’t yet gone down the hill that day.  Worse, they either hadn’t ever been sledding or hadn’t since childhood.  Well, something had to be done about that!

Our intrepid VP, never wanting anyone to be left out of the fun, convinced them that these new giant inflatable sleds are wonderful and give a smooth ride all the way down.  She offered to go down with them, promising to hold their sleds close.  She is quite persuasive and finally convinced these two moms—we will call them Mrs. A and Mrs. B—to go down, all three together, each in her own giant inner tube.

Those tubes are the popular ones, so it took a little time to gather three, which provided plenty of time for the hill to empty and the crowd of families to gather on the side as an impromptu cheering court.

The three ladies lined up at the top of the hill, our veep in the middle, all scooted far away from the single mogul they adamantly wanted to avoid.  They had their hands patterned to be holding their own sleds with one and the adjacent sled with the other. 

Just a fraction of a second after “1, 2, 3, GO,” they, as a unit, pivoted on the fulcrum of Mrs. A so that Mrs. B was perfectly aligned to hit that mogul backward!  She flew like no one had flown all day.  Sans sled, she catapulted over our Vice President and—this is such a testimony of heroism and clear-mindedness—as she sailed past Mrs. A, Mrs. A released her death grip on the sleds and caught Mrs. B in her arms and carried her down the rest of the hill!!  Can you see it??  Thankfully, the veep held tightly to the remaining sled as the three ladies sailed on down the hill past their gaping children and friends.

But that is not all!  These three brave heroines of Willard Hill continued far beyond the point that all the other sledders had gone.  They were in the un-groomed powder and heading straight for the trees—one in particular.  At this point moms in the ‘audience’ switch from cheering to shielding young heirs from the ride that was most definitely going to end even more spectacularly than it had begun.

Then the next miracle happened.  Before I tell it, please imagine getting yourself out of one of those really cushy couches.  Don’t you need a little leverage?  Now, put yourself flat on your back, flying at breakneck speed down a hill on something akin to an air mattress.  Now, get up!  Our amazing Vice President did just that.  She levitated herself out of her inner tube seconds before it crashed into a tree, flying into the air at least 5 feet!!  The other sled, carrying two moms, mercifully came to a halt without collision.

Do you see why this is my favorite KidsROCK story ever?  Moms are heroes because we can hold bulging calendars in our heads, we know where the scissors are and we possess the healing kiss for boo-boos. We always take the burnt toast, we power through the days while suffering from chronic sleep deprivation and have eyes on the backs of our heads.  But it is easy to consider these commonplace and to become complacent to the wonder.  That special day on a hill outside of our little city, we got to see something far from commonplace that graphically reminded us just the kind of grit of which a mom is made.  Selfless, quick-thinking, fun-loving and powerful when we come together.  We are moms!