The two girls and I took a brief jaunt on Grapevine lake this weekend.  Jet skis rule!  The only problem: it was very choppy making for a rough and very wet ride.  We stopped often to wipe the water from our face.  At one point, I executed a sharp turn from a dead stop; not a good idea.  It’s a little freaky the first time you flip a jet ski; Madison was not a happy camper and thought she lost a shoe.  BTW, Crocks float.  Alex kept her head and nabbed the bobbing shoe.

But I have to admit; the jet ski did exactly what it was designed to do.  The cord on my wrist instantly cut the engine when we departed the vessel. It was very easy to flip the vehicle back over.  I boosted Madison back on, and Alex climbed on herself.  I remembered somebody telling me to make sure to mount from the back only; it was very stable as I clambered back on. After I wedged the wrist attachment back under the kill switch (thought I might need a screwdriver or something for a minute!) it started right up and we were on our way, drenched and exhilarated!

Occasionally, my daughters’ Tai Kwon Do teacher shows the students how to break the grip of an opponent. But more importantly, she teaches them what to say when someone they don’t know grabs them. “Don’t just scream. Have you ever heard a kid scream in the mall? Those are just tantrums; no one pays much attention to those. Instead shout, I don’t know you! or You are not my mother! while breaking free of the assailants grip.”

One student wanted to demonstrate how loud he could scream. The kids around him hunched over and put their fingers in their ears in anticipation. Yeah, it was pretty loud, but the teacher made him do it again. Instead of a wordless scream, she asked him to shout as he was instructed.

Well he did, and again it was very loud. The kids around him were all angled away, as if to escape that awful noise. Well, after his last shout, the kid looked pretty nonplussed. “That was too loud!” he said, rubbing his ears. All the adults in the room burst into laughter, a kid cowed by his own shout.

Thanks for the laugh kid, I needed that!