Not a kid you can "park"

I have it on very good authority that other riding Mums can park their kids in strollers or under trees while they exercise their horses. When told of this the clear inference was "well why aren't YOU out there riding Grandly?"

Oh yeah. Right.

Much as I can't wait to get my hairy horror out of the paddock and get back to teaching him how to move like a horse and not like a discombubulated centipede with three wooden legs, I can't see Braeden putting up with it. Grandly probably put my friends up to the suggestion on one of the many recent occasions when he's somehow Houdini'd out of his paddock and come up to the house. On the most recent occasion he left a pile of steaming regard very close to the kitchen window. At least he was philosophical about Wayne popping him back where he was supposed to be (and probably had a good laugh at Wayne scratching his head wondering how and where the sod got out, because all fences seem intact).

Given that Wayne and Grandly are not exactly mates (Grandles nearly put Wayne in hospital once), top marks to both my boys!

But getting back to other riding mums of legend, how do they do it!???! Perhaps I've ruined this kid in that he expects interaction, and not of the passive variety thank you very much. You might get away with popping him in his highchair and parking him in front of the TV if you really have to (ie you're trying to eat dinner) IF:
1. You make sure it's something interesting on TV (and not kids' programmes thank you, this kid likes SciFi, forensic dramas and movies.. much like his Mum)
and
2. You eat really really fast!

Leave Braeden in the car seat and go for a ride? HAH! He sometimes tolerates waiting while you open the house and come back for him, but don't count on it. You wouldn't even get the horse unloaded off the float before a major meltdown was in order.

But that's okay. When he's a stroppy teenager who doesn't want to know his Mum in preference to his cool mates, I'll remember what it was like when my baby seemed to think the umbilical cord hadn't been cut by 4 months post partum.

And anyway, it's just too much fun to sit with him and play. Every day he does something a little better or tries something new. Right now he seems to be doing ab crunches as he strains to sit up by himself. Take his little hands in yours and he pulls himself up to a sitting position all by himself. He can roll right over and back again, and will play happily on his tummy for ten minutes or so before it becomes "sooo yesterday!" and then he's too tired (or lazy!) to roll back, so bellows for assistance.

There's a white lump that suspiciously resembles a tooth coming up on his lower gum, and he was a very crotchety baby yesterday who found the teat or nipple too aggravating. Time to present him with the chilled teething "keys" out of the fridge which he decided was the best thing since sliced bread. And drool! Maybe I should take him out to the paddock and park him, at least then we could ease up on the irrigation!!!