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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Feeling Faint at the Fair





I took the kids to the County Fair last night.

The Fair from the Ferris Wheel, which does not make me sick.


As we strolled in, I was remembering the first year we took Kate to our County Fair.
She was around 2, wearing a red shirt and her face was just as red. It was hot hot HOT- around 100 degrees if I remember correctly- and we were all miserably overheated.
Even so, we still had so much fun. I still remember her having a pony ride and riding rides with her Dad.

This time, I was walking in with three grown or rapidly growing up people.
Kate's taller than I am and soon off to college, Chris is taller than I am and starting high school in a mere three weeks.
Trey is chomping at the bit to pass me and is well on his way at around 5 feet tall.

County Fair, 2002.


Kate wasn't feeling well so we were mostly hanging out while the boys moved from ride to ride.
I was telling her that I used to love to go to amusement parks and ride all the rides but especially the roller coasters.
I would go on Greased Lightning with my friend Melanie, which was a coaster in Houston that goes forward and backward, and loop-de-loops. We would ride then get off when it ended only to race around and get back in line to do it again. Over and over again we would ride, with no break.

These days, it seems that I merely LOOK at a ride that spins or moved very quickly and my stomach starts to turn.

I can handle the Ferris Wheel and the swings, that type of thing, but ever since I got pregnant with Kate I have become much more prone to motion sickness. I'm sad about that, because I always thought I would be the cool mom who is riding every coaster in sight with my kids!

Toward the end of our time at the Fair, the boys begged me to go on a ride with them.
I don't remember what it was called, but it involved spinning in a big circle, while the pod contraption that we were sitting in would spin in a smaller circle.
This loveliness would be compounded by the main floor of the ride tilting so that the spinning would be unpredictably fast or slow.

At first, I was Fun Mom, all laughter and jokes about puking and crushing them with centrifugal force.
Then, the ride actually *started.*

Well.

It started out kind of slow and I was all "hey! this is fun! look at me managing this so well!"
That quickly turned into a loooooong scream as we suddenly began whirling at what felt like the speed of light. I was clutching the bar, squinching my eyes closed and hollering like a fool.

About five revolutions later, I was not laughing. I was screaming inside but I was afraid to open my mouth because my jokes of puking on the boys were a frightening possibility.
I could hear Trey panicking (I must have looked as ill as I felt!) because I could hear him saying "Mom? Mom! Are you okay? I'm sorry! Should we stop the ride?"
I couldn't answer him, so I made some kind of shrieky-I'm okay humming noises at him and hoped that would suffice.

When I honestly thought I was going to succumb and just multicolor-yawn all over my poor sons, the ride slowed down. The boys were grappling with the bar, trying to escape as quickly as possible from their close quarters with their green-faced mother.

I staggered out of the pod dazed and confused. And I do mean dazed and confused.
I'm sure my eyes were doing that jerking thing that little kids do when they've been spinning too long.

"Water!" I croaked in the general direction of the boys as I staggered off to a snack kiosk.
The three dollar water bottle suddenly looked like a bargain. I would have just handed over my wallet, I think!

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the boys won't be asking me to ride anything else with them for quite a while!
The boys at the Fair *last* year.

The boys at the Fair *this* year.

2 comments:

Richard Lewis said...

That was an awesome post that had me laughing out loud. I rode "Greased Lightnin'" once and puked in the bushes immediately afterward. I know my limits...

Jody said...

Haha!! I can't ride that stuff either. Makes me feel nauseated all day long. Glad the ride stopped at an opportune time for you!