Last week, it rained. In Arizona, that is big news. Like, huge news. It was the top story on that night’s local news. That day, President Obama had just announced that more troops were headed to Afghanistan, but it rained in Arizona! (At least we got a break from the Tiger Woods scandal.) I got in the shower right as the news began, and when I came out, they were still talking about the weather! And I don’t take short showers.
I have to admit, when it rains, it is big news in our house. All day, Little Miss was begging to put on her rain boots and go stomp in the puddles. I kept telling her when it let up, she could. But it didn’t let up all day. When the twins got home from school, I finally gave in and let them run wild in the rain:
Yep, barefoot even. I could picture my father-in-law saying, “Are you crazy? They’re gonna get sick!”
But really, how often does it rain here? When it does, it’s a treat and I let them get as wet as they can stand. Besides, I’ve never been one to believe you get sick just from being outside in the cold and wet—don’t you need some actual germs to get sick?
I was more worried about electrocution. The day before, we had just put up our outside Christmas lights, and this is what it looked like in the pouring rain:
Uh, isn’t that dangerous?
So I called BK at work to ask him. Not one to panic or freak out, he said calmly, “Well, it’s probably not the best.”
“But is it dangerous?” I asked urgently.
“Depends what you mean by ‘dangerous.’ ”
Such a typical response.
“I mean, can we get electrocuted?” I asked in exasperation.
“Well, I suppose that’s possible. Anything’s possible.”
Another one of my favorite answers.
“Well, what should I do? Should I unplug them? I’m afraid!”
“No, the worst that’ll probably happen is it’ll probably just trip the GFI switch.”
And he was right. That’s all it did.
And it turned out puddle jumping wasn’t nearly as much fun as Little Miss thought it was going to be. This was her on her first jump:
I thought she was crying because she was stuck, like it was quicksand. And being the mom that I am, did I grab her out and comfort her? No, I grabbed my camera first. And then I rescued and comforted her.
Hey, it’s not often we get rain here. I have to capture the moments when I can. And no one g0t sick or electrocuted. It was a good day.