POP! (Or: A Sad Day for a Judah-Pudah)

 

These are the remnants of a big pink bouncy ball.

I was at Target with Hannah two days ago, and she simply REFUSED to leave without it. "Ball! Ball! BALLLLL!" She kept saying (and signing!) until Mommy caved in. She was so excited, she carried it around the store showing everyone who would listen "Ball! BALL!". She held on to it in her carseat all the way home "Ball! Ball! Ball!" At this point I am beginning to worry she will never say any other words ever again.

We got home and she played with it, rolling it in the hallways, kicking it like a soccer ball, patting it and even hugging it.

Then.....her big brothers came home.

Jude really really REALLY wanted to take the ball out in the yard and play with Eden. I told him he had to be extra careful because it was Hannah's ball, and we didn't want it to pop. So we all went out in the front yard. The boys tossed it back and forth, rolled it down the hill, even rolled it to Hannah who shrieked with delight when it bounced off her front. Eden tossed it to Jude, but he didn't catch it and it rolled down one side of our yard in to the neighbors yard....where large prickly pinecones loomed,sinister and sharp, just waiting for the opportunity to pop something. Jude ran after it as fast as he could, but when he caught up with it and tried to pick it up it went "POP!"

Jude picked up two sad,floppy pink pieces, and started wailing. Hannah, on the other hand, started laughing and clapping as if she had never seen such a great trick. The ball had become flat! Awesome! Jude ran over to me and crumbled in to my lap, a heap of tears and sobs "I...didn't.... MEAN TO....mommmy!!!" I told him it was ok, it was an accident, and we would get another ball another day. Hannah, meanwhile, is shaking the big piece of what was once her ball, and laughing hysterically.

We collected ourselves and what was left of the ball, and went inside. Jude insisted that we could not throw the ball away, because he said "Mommy, I want to remember this really special ball FOREVER!" I told him it was no good now, it was trash, and we couldn't keep it. But we compromised by taking his photo with it, so he could remember those glorious five minutes when this ball was a part of his life. That made him very happy.