It's amazing how quickly we fall back into old routines. As the hours grew long on the first day that the temperatures gave us permission to gather outside, a fire magically appeared in the center of little patio behind the pond. Once the fire pit was burning steady, a bunch of friends gathered around. We count our neighbors amongst that friend list, which is how it came to be that a couple of extra dogs were sitting by the fire with us.
The s'mores were a few hours away, so Alexis was busying herself with toys. She had a hula hoop and a scooter, so she was happy. The adults were chatting and carrying on, with Alexis occasionally interrupting so that she could reassert her role as The Queen of All of Us.
And then it happened. In a flash, the neighbor's black lab took off running towards the street. She's normally a stay-er type of dog, but every once in a while she likes to prove that she's still got it. She took off running and running, in pursuit of a dog at the end of a leash as it was being walked around the neighborhood.
Our neighbor dashed into action. In his quest to be more efficient in chasing down his dog, he randomly decided it would be a fantastic idea to borrow Alexis' pink Barbie scooter. He rolled his way down the driveway just fine, but then he hit grass. Rather than jump off of the scooter, he tried to roll the scooter through the lawn.
The key word in that sentence is "tried."
He failed in a magnificently spectacular way and found himself kissing the grass. His feet flew up and tapped him on the back of the head as he ate a nice pound or so of dirt. He sprung back up and went after the dog, ignoring the giant scratch that he had earned when he face-planted on the ground.
During the cacophony, Alexis was the focus of my attention. I missed most of the magnificent face-plant because I was watching her as she yelled, "HEY! THAT'S *MY* SCOOTER!" and went running. As the neighbor performed his graceful act, I watched Alexis chase him down the drive way, snatch her now abandoned scooter, and return back to the gathering of adults.
"MOM. Why did he steal my scooter?" she asked, completely oblivious to the crumpled pile of human in the front yard. She was tattling in that way that 7-year olds do so well. She was genuinely indignant than someone had dared to touch her precious Barbie scooter. As Alexis was tattling to her momma, the neighbor returned, dog in tow. He was greeted by a chorus of laughter because OMG DID YOU SEE THAT? HE TOTALLY FACE-PLANTED.
And that is how Alexis learned all about karma.
Don't steal a 7-year old's scooter, yo.
