Life With Waterproof Mascara...and Why I Hate It!!: Driving Down Memory Lane

     I decided to spend one of my days off during spring break visiting some of the places I spent the most time with Lauren as she grew up. Although it was tough, it was also very therapeutic at the same time. I have so many wonderful memories from her childhood. As I have said before, how lucky was I to get to be her mom? Totally lucky!
     The first place I went by was the house in Lakeland Ray and I moved into a few weeks after we were married in February of 1996. Lauren was not even 2 years old yet. We had a great deal of fun in that house. I remember feeling so grown up but looking back, I was just a kid myself.
     One of the funniest memories from our first house in Lakeland was when we were potty training Lauren at the same time we were housebreaking a Jack Russell puppy. Somehow the wires of communication got crossed at one point because I caught Lauren pooping in the flower bed just outside our front door. I wasn't sure if I was more mortified that my kid took a crap in the front yard or terrified that she got out the front door without me hearing her. Wow...good times.
   Another time, when my mom was over visiting, Lauren made an escape out the front door again. Hmmmm....maybe I wasn't a great mother after all. Nonetheless, the next thing we know she comes in crying with a huge handprint on her bare bottom. She was sniffling and snotting and I was trying to make out what she was saying. All my mom and I could understand was "Daddy pank me". Ray came in and asked if I was aware that our daughter was out riding her tricycle in the cul-de-sac with only a shirt on? He had come home from work to discover this lovely activity going on. Again, life was never dull with Lauren.
     My next stop for the day was the daycare where Lauren attended and I worked to help with the expense as I was finishing my bachelor's degree. I would drop Lauren off in the morning and go to my classes then return in the afternoon to work as the p.m. supervisor. A great, yet another scary, memory from her daycare was the time Lauren was hit by a car. Calm down, let me explain. We were leaving at the end of the day and Lauren stopped halfway through the parking lot. She was trying to get the wrapper off of a piece of candy her teacher had given her. I didn't notice she had stopped and neither did my coworker who was slowly, thank God, backing her car out of its parking space. Her rear bumper smacked Lauren on the back of the head and knocked her to the ground. Luckily my coworker had her window down and heard the commotion and stopped. I raced over to make sure Lauren was alright. Fear gripped my throat as I saw her face down. She stood up, pointed at the candy on the ground, and started crying..."My candy. I dropped my candy." Good grief!!!
     I then went to the practice field where Lauren spent two seasons cheering for the Lakeland Gators. I remembered the time her squad was treated to a little bit of practice time with the high school aged girls. I sat and watched as the girls lined up to get a turn doing stunts with the older girls. I noticed that a little girl on Lauren's squad kept butting in front of the other girls to get more turns. I got angrier and angrier. Here's the thing, this little twit was already a "top" or "flyer" on her own squad. My "sturdy" Lauren was of course a base. She never had the opportunity to see what it was like to be the top. So, once I reached my limit and couldn't take it anymore, I showed my tail. I marched over to the group of high school girls and informed them, not so kindly, that if they lifted the little girl who was butting in front of everyone else ONE MORE time, there was going to be a problem. I might have let my girl get out the front door from time to time but DO NOT mess with her!!! As we rode home that evening after practice, Lauren informed me that she really didn't like being up top. Too scary. Well...I was still glad I made it happen for her so she had the opportunity to form her opinion on the whole thing. Totally worth it.
     My next stop was our second house in Lakeland, on Lake Bonny. The new owners have painted it a strange color somewhere between pink and peach and built a detached garage in the front yard, but the memories are still there. Lauren and I commuted to school all the way back in Brandon each day from that house. I often regretted that Lauren didn't attend school with the other kids in the neighborhood but she never complained. We spent time boating on the lake, riding our bikes to Taco Bell and around Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland. We owned a pet prairie dog in this house, Princess. Lauren learned to ride a real bike here too, no training wheels. We laughed here, and cried here. All memories I will always have.
     The last stop for the day was a park on Lake Ariana in Auburndale. One summer Ray, the kids and I went out early every Saturday morning to secure a pavilion before they all filled up. Four other couples from our church, along with their kiddos, would come out from Brandon to meet us. We would spend the day boating, tubing, jet skiing, and cooking out. That was truly a wonderful summer. All of the kids were within 2-3 years of the same age and got along really well. The grown ups were not as fortunate about getting along in the long run. The final couple out of the five divorced last year. Sad really.
     Today I cried...a lot. But I also smiled and even laughed out loud, alone in my car a few times. Raising my sweet little Lauren was such a pleasure. Of course there were challenges but I wouldn't trade a single minute, not one!