Tangled

So moms of girls have to deal with tangles in their daughter’s hair.  This mom to four boys had to deal with some different kind of tangles the other day when I had the boys at my parent’s lake place alone for a few days.

We invited some friends to the lake to join us for the day. Why just have four boys when you can have seven instead? But more realistically, moms of boys must band together and my dear friend and I had some much needed girl-catch-up time while our boys splashed and played in the water.

Where things began to get tangled was when we were out in the boat, all 7 boys and two moms, and we were pulling the boys tubing and then skiing. Looping round and round the lake, making an ocean of waves for the boys to bounce through and see if they could still hang on for dear life.  The patient passengers each waited for the next victim to fall into the depths which could only mean their turn was nearing. Each break we took we would all dive into the water to stay cool until our next stop.  But try as they might, the fourteen little hands just couldn’t help but touch the ski rope.  In sincere attempts to “help” they would wind the rope around their arms and make the loopiest loops you’ve ever seen and inevitably they would toss the rope out to the next victim  skier and there would be an enormous tangle, and I’d have to pull in the rope, again, and untangle it and send it back out to the awaiting skier.

Tangled

Brothers awaiting their turn, hopeful at every turn!

You’ve got to keep laughing!

All smiles on the boat

After what seemed like this happening about 20 times, I finally dropped everyone off at the beach with my friend and went back out with the skier and a spotter.

My seven year old spotter, Kiefer, took some pictures of our friend’s last failed ski attempt as I turned the boat around yet again to pick him up to have another go at it, when Kiefer warns, “Mom, you’re driving right over the rope.” Where he might not know yet how to do anything but put knots in the ski rope, he was absolutely correct about his observation and not seconds later we heard this fatal blow of the rope tangling under the boat in the prop and the motor died.

Evidence that we really did get him up on skis before we tangled the rope

I knew better than to start the motor again. I knew what I had done. Kiefer knew what I had done. Now the challenge was what to do next? We were rapidly drifting away from our dock and with one adult and five boys ashore, I started rowing with a ski to try to get the boat back to shore. That didn’t get us very far, so soon after I jumped into the water and put my old life-saving skills to work pulling the boat with the side stroke.  My nine (and a half) year old, Carter jumped into rescue action from the beach. He loaded everyone on board the pontoon boat and was backing out to come get us before I could even ask him to come help. I’d ride anywhere with him driving, so I wasn’t concerned about him captaining the boat and everyone had on life jackets still from our previous boat ride. In minutes they were at my side and we tied a tow rope to the speed boat and were on our way to the dock. We pulled the ski boat up to the side of the dock and my friend jumped off the pontoon to hold the speed boat. Then Carter put the pontoon in reverse to get out of the way but moments later, the comedy of errors continued and he backed over the tow rope and got his prop tangled! Seriously!? Is this really happening? I was still in the water beside the speed boat and I went to where the ladder is on our dock only to find, there was no ladder there! That’s when my friend fessed up that her younger son had been investigating it and in a way that only boys can, he picked it up from it’s hinges and then it quickly sank to the bottom of the lake, a good 18 feet below where I needed it to be!  ( I later re-told this story to my mom, a mother of two girls who asked me, “Why would he mess with the ladder like that?” to which I responded, “Because he’s a boy!?!!”) Boys learn by doing. Not by being told what to do, or not to do, as the case may be.

Captain Carter

I’ve always heard that people are like tea bags, you never know what’s inside them until you stick them in hot water.

I was grateful that my (external) reaction was to start laughing in disbelief! I mean seriously?! Without a ladder, I couldn’t quickly get out of the water, so I started swimming to rescue Carter and his ship full of  ship mates ages five and under.  It makes me laugh now to think that as Carter was reversing (quickly) away from the dock my friend did say “Oh, I should have gone with them…” It’s hard to anticipate what  nine (and a half) year old captain will do. (or how quickly he might do it!) When I finally reached the crew of crazies on the pontoon Carter had already trimmed the motor up and we could all see the tow rope tangled around the prop.  I asked him to take the key out of the engine, which he showed me was around his neck like a necklace and he’d already done that  in anticipation of what I was going to do next. Then I asked for all the little monkeys to come to the side of the boat to watch me so I could keep my eyes on all them. I explained how dangerous it was and to never touch a prop of a boat, etc. Once that point was made, I began to untangle the rope from prop #1. Once that task was completed, I pulled myself up onto the pontoon boat (not an easy task) and we set our course for the dock, where my friend was still holding the speed boat in place.  We docked the pontoon, and then Carter and I walked the speed boat over to its home in the boat lift. Where we then began wars among the minions about who’s turn it was to crank the boat. Each having a turn, we raised the boat up as high as it would go and we could clearly see the biggest tangle of ski rope knotted mess. I boarded the paddle board and laid on my stomach under the boat, again, explained never to do this at home to our young audience and I untangled boat #2.

After the boats were each rescued, we then had my friend’s tall son dive down to rescue the ladder. He retrieved it on the first attempt! Horrah! Successful rescues all around!

The rest of our visit was mainly smooth sailing. Other than Kiefer poured the bucket of water on our campfire before we were really done with it. Oh, well. I guess if he was done roasting marshmallows everyone else was, too!

Summer diet consists of hot dogs and S’mores – either I’m the best mom ever, or the worst! 🙂

All said, I think the two moms and seven boys had a great time! And these tangles are the little snags in life that come with the territory of being moms of boys.  Did I mention what they did to the fishing poles?!?

We moms of boys have to stick together!

Gone fishin’