Friday mornings are always a bit hectic. I have my work meeting at 7 am. Holly has to be at work at 7:30 am. Gavin’s Tae Kwon Do starts at 8 am. It’s usually a bit crazy in the morning trying to get everyone up, fed, dressed, and ready to go. But today we did it in a reasonable manner. No scolding, rushing, aggravations, screaming kids (Gavin is innocent), distracted kids (Gavin is guilty), or anything of the sort. This put me in a good mood for the day.
We drove Holly to work and arrived to Tae Kwon Do 15 minutes early. The kids got out of the car and spent their time waiting over on the playground. Leif was in a good mood and was running all over the field as more kids showed up. The instructor’s car pulled into the driveway as I was talking to a new parent. She hopped out of the car, greeted us and we continued chatting. The instructor then remembered that she had to take her dog, Oprah, out of the car. It was at this time when Leif realized she was here.
Leif knows and loves Oprah. Oprah is really good around kids and Leif cracks up when she licks his face. He loves to pet and kiss Oprah. So when he noticed that Oprah was there, he started to head over to where the cars, and Oprah, were. I squatted down to say hi to Oprah. She was full of energy and wanted to greet everyone at the same time. She didn’t know which way to run. As I was petting her, she noticed the kids over on the playground and bolted to say hi. On the way, she noticed Leif coming to say hi and quickly ad suddenly altered her path of jubilation. Not realizing how close Leif was, Oprah crashed right into him. I watched as Leif was knocked off his feet, did a 360 in the air and landed flat on his face in the grass. It made him look so light. I ran over to him to pick him up as he immediately started to cry. He didn’t seem to be hurt, but I’d freak out too if I was flung into the air by a fast moving animal that was twice my size. Poor kid.
I think I was the only one to actually see the impact. I felt a pang of pain when I saw it. Oprah didn’t seem to be at all effected by the impact. She did get a good scolding though. Meanwhile, poor Leif cried into my shoulders for a few minutes until he became reoriented. He was a little wary of Oprah for a bit after that, but by the end of class, she was following her around looking for hugs, kisses, and wet slobbery kisses.
It looked something like this