The little girl sat at the top of the hill, hands gripped tightly around the handlebars of the plastic tricycle.
She had been double-dog dared. She knew this challenge had gone beyond backyard politics. It was a full-on war that she aimed to reign victorious.
Shoving her bare feet into the loose dirt, she gave herself a slight budge. She was facing down a hill the size of an Indian mound in her mind. The steep angle did not phase her.
She had been double-dog dared.
Throwing her fear to the side, she shoved herself down that hill. The plastic wheel bounced with every hit of a mole-hole down that grassy hill. The wind shot into her eyes with such force that small tears began to slide down her face. Down, down, she went.
Until…she crashed into a hole of brown, grassy mud that shot around her so fierce it went up her nose, into her mouth and even in her ears.
She toppled off that plastic tricycle with leaves in her hair and mud covering her entire body. Standing up, perhaps for an arrogant stride, she looked to her spectators who stood with their mouths opened in surprise.
She had been double-dog dared. And she answered the call.
That fierce daredevil was my daughter Elsie. Thanks to a steep hill and the occasional rain shower, an instant slippery slide hides in our backyard. And all three of our children, regardless of age, head down its hill at any given time.
I let them spend hours riding their bikes, tricycles, Big Wheels and more down that treacherous slope of muddy heaven. Mind you, I hose them naked in the backyard before I let them inside sometimes. But for a moment, they can just be kids. And it is wonderful.
The iPads, iPhones, game devices, mobile spitters and shakers are forgotten. Their faces are not glued to the glow of a screen.
Their faces are streaked by a mudhole that might as well have been the mighty Mississippi in their eyes.
It does my heart good to see those kids just being kids; dirty kids. And although I have a ring in my bathtub, the fun is always well worth it.
My family tells the tales of all the dares, challenges and feats met during those mud baths and mudslides. There is no arguing over whose turn it was to have a video game. It is laughter and a little bit of eye rolling as those kids recall that day.
That good day…when a little mud, a big hill and a double-dog dare made a kid be a kid.
And I bet Elsie’s view at the top of that hill was magnificent. Not a care in the world and a pit of fun waiting at the bottom.
All it took was a little push.
