ASAP

Annalee saw fit to ride two of the larger slides at the playground. The first was one with a bump halfway down, which she had ridden while holding my hand a few times in the past. Today, she insisted on going it alone several times, smiling at the top with the expectation of the experience and the satisfaction of feeling courageous. The second was a tubular slide I'd considered too intimidating for the foreseeable future. Well, the foreseeable future ended at about 12:18 p.m. on this Tuesday. Annalee allowed me to position her at the top of the long, angled tube and to run to the bottom before beginning her ascent. Still visibly brimming with the victory over the first slide, she started down the -- to her -- giant tube. She appeared, sliding on her shortpants, using her feet to get her past a few slow patches, to be the happiest person on earth to be coming down the birth canal. She was radiant, triumphant, and extremely present -- and very interested in getting on the stair-ladder and onto the top of the slide again as soon as humanly possible.