For the 9 months of my pregnancy, I went without knowing the gender of this precious being that was growing inside of me. I wanted a girl, but thought it was boy the entire time. After months of anticipation, the day came to meet this little person who was going to bring us such joy. The doctor delivered that squirmy, alien-looking thing and passed it to the nurses. He never told me the gender so I had to ask "Is it a girl or boy?" He smiled at me and pronounced "It's a girl." I did a silent whoop for joy. I was already imagining all of the girlie things that were coming in the near future: ballet classes, curled hair, Barbies, and tea sets.
Fast forward 23 months...
This past weekend, my parents and I took Charley to the Walworth County Fair. I thought she would have a blast because she's almost 2 and I would let her go on a few rides. Well, I'm not really a rides person and never have been, so I forgot about the height restrictions. This limited our choices to 2. A car ride and a pony ride. When I saw the pony ride, I became giddy with excitement; it's every girls fantasy to have a pony or at least ride on one. So Grandma paid for Miss Charley to ride her first pony. I took her into the pen, placed her on the saddle, and showed her how to hang on. I was going to walk right next to her and I bet I had the stupidest grin on my face. As the horses started walking, there was a little fear in her eyes and she whined at me. "Caaa mama, Caaa" 'Car? Why is she saying car?' I talked to her and calmed her down. We kept riding around in circles and she relaxed enough to enjoy the rythm of the horses gait. But again, "Caaa mama, Caaaa" she whined. This time I couldn' t control the meltdown that was unfolding. "Caaa" she yelled. Thank heavens the ride was ending and I unhooked her from the saddle. I told myself "She's just too young, too afraid of big animals, not ready for this yet." But as we left the pen, "Caaa" was yelled again. Ok, Ok, even though I thought, maybe she's not ready for rides, I'll let her go on the car ride. Grandma put her in the car and stepped back. Zoom! The cars started to move and would you believe it. My girl was having the time of her life. She was waving and steering and laughing. She liked the car more than the pony!
I'll try to get her on a pony when she's a little older, but I'm bracing myself for the day I realize that my girl is a tomboy.
