Imagination rules the world

I have done a lot of stupid things in my life - things that I should be embarrassed of and definitely not admitting in this blog. But I am not embarrassed to say I’ve learned these lessons the hard way because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty funny. My lack of common sense in some situations is mind blowing at times. I’ve decided to compile a short list of “life lessons I learned the hard way” because it strays away from the serious topics I usually talk about and is a fun blog entry for once!

(1) Peaches Hurt.
Everybody knows that peaches have fuzz on them. But, what I bet you weren’t aware of is that once the peach is rubbed on your face, those seemingly harmless little fuzzies become painful shards stuck in your pores. Seriously. For some reason one day I decided to feel what the peach fuzz would feel like when I rubbed it on my face. It was harmless enough. But, after rolling it around on my face a few times, I put the peach away and then rubbed my face. Sure enough, those “fuzzies” imbedded themselves into every pore and my face became a bed of sharp prickles. It was incredibly awkward and painful for a few days whenever I rubbed my face.

(2) Curling Irons Also Hurt.
Another smart move in my life occurred one day when I was curling my hair. Everyone knows that curling irons are hot. It’s a pretty obvious fact. But, what’s NOT hot on the curling iron that my Mom had was the little white tip at the end of the iron that you can hold onto while you’re curling your hair. I’ve touched it a thousand times with my hands and had never burned me. So, one day while curling my hair, I decided to be a dork and touch the tip of the curling iron (the part covered in plastic) onto my tongue to “see what would happen.” Sure enough, the white tip somehow became as hot as the iron itself and I burned my tongue. I felt special when someone asked me what I did to burn my tongue and I told them I licked a curling iron.

(3) Playground Equipment Hurts Adults



These seem harmless, right?


WRONG!

I can’t even count how many times, as a child, I did something dangerous at a playground. They’re pretty much a breeding ground for injuries, are they not? Here’s the kicker though – it seems like the kids are never the ones getting injured! I have been injured TWICE at the playground this summer and this is when I am taking Melina to play! I have learned that maybe adults just shouldn’t try to relive their youth through playground equipment but I’m sure I’ll continue doing so as she gets older.
Earlier this summer, I took Melina to one of the playgrounds in town and decided to try hang from the monkey bars. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been on playground equipment to play but I decided to try one of the tricks I used to do as a kid. The ‘trick’ was to hang from the monkey bars with your hands and then swing your legs through the opening between your arms, kind of doing a suspended sommersault. Well, Melina, having more foresight than me, predicted mom was going to hurt herself and told me to get off the equipment but I didn’t listen and started to do my trick. Halfway through my sommersalt, my shoulder twisted at a funny angle and, well, needless to say, we were done our jaunt at the park after that! My shoulders never twisted uncomfortably doing that as a kid.
Just the other day, TJ & I took Melina to the playground by our house. She’s still too short to get onto a lot of the ‘big kid’ equipment so I decided I’d show her how to walk up a slide to get to the top of the landing! I thought I was so cool, climbing up a slide just like I did so many times as a kid. I didn’t take into account how many feet I’ve grown since graduating from kiddie slides. As I was going up the slide at top speed, my face met abruptly with a horizontal steel pole at the top of the slides’ landing. My head snapped back and TJ told me he heard the crack of my nose hitting the pole from across the park. He looked at me like I was a complete dumbass for not realizing there was a pole on the landing but as I walked towards him with tears in my eyes, he realized I was actually hurt! I kind of chuckled at the stupidity of the whole situation while asking him if my nose is broken. It wasn’t - just bruised, red and tender for the next few days. I’ve learned that I probably shouldn’t try to pretend I’m a kid anymore and accept the fact that I’m an *gulp* adult now! Yikes. I’ll still try to teach her to do things at the playground but I’m going to keep my face forward from now on so I can face oncoming poles with style and grace!