Protect The Egg

Connor asked for a story last night. When he does this I don't make up fairytales. I tell him real stories about something that happened in my life. When I was a kid, I LOVED my grandmothers tales of her childhood, so I remember that kids want to hear about things and people they know.

Since I've been dreaming of the beach, my brain went straight for a story about St. John---my favorite Carribbean island. Here's how it played out:

D: Once upon a time there was a mommy and daddy that were going to have a baby. Before the baby came, they decided they wanted to take a vacation to rest up and dream about their little boy who would be born about four months later. Do you know who that mommy and daddy were?

C: Yes! You and daddy! And the baby in the egg was me.

D: That's right. You were in my tummy. We went to a place called St. John where they have beautiful beaches and lots of fun things to do. But it got a little scary.

C: What was scary?

D: Well, one day, we decided to rent a boat to ride around to other islands. A little while after we got on the boat, I realized we had a problem.

C: What was the problem?

D: Well, there were medium sized waves. And as the boat rode over the waves, it would slam onto each of them and the whole boat would shake really hard. Over and over again. BAM BAM BAM BAM.

C: So?

D: Well, when a baby is in your tummy, it is bad to shake them up alot. I got really scared that something bad would happen.

C: Were you afraid the egg would fall out?

D: Exactly! And when babies fall out to early it is not good. Sometimes they die. So I was really afraid. But your daddy is smart.

C: What did he do?

D: He realized that there was a place on the boat where I could stand up and hold on to two bars. When I was standing up, the banging of the boat didn't bother me. My legs just absorbed the shock and my belly just rocked up and down gently. That made me feel better and we were able to continue on our trip and have a fun day.

C: What else did you do?

D: Well, we went to an island called Virgin Gorda where they have rock formations that are really cool and we climbed around those. There are little pools of water inside them. They're kind of like caves on a beach with little skylights. Mommy got a little freaked out again because we were doing alot of climbing around with ropes and stuff on slippery rocks and again, I didn't want to fall down and hurt you in my tummy. But, it was fine. It wasn't too hard and the rocks are really pretty.

C: Could you swim in the pool?

D: Yes. It was fun and peaceful.

C: What did you do next?

D: Well we just rode around on the boat. We went to a little island called Jost Van Dyke where they have a famous bar called "Foxy's". We ate lunch there and it was fun to see.

C: It was a bar? (a little anger in his voice, now)

D: Yes--on the beach with a restaurant.

C: Did you drink ALCOHOL?

D: No.

C: (sitting up in the bed, turned to me, and harsh) Well, good! Because after that day if you had spilled alcohol on my egg you COULD HAVE KILLED ME.