I Guess I'm a Rebel

I hate to follow stupid rules.  I'm a practical person and I think we live in a world with way too many rules, impractical rules put in place out of fear of lawsuits, or rules to prevent freak accidents {which by the way, freak accidents can't be prevented which is what makes them freaky}.  A couple weeks ago I went totally crazy and lost it over another lame rule enforcer.  It was embarrassing and only the type of overreaction you'd see on TV.

We have a family membership at our local YMCA.  I hate that place with all my heart  because they have so many rules but the price is right, the facility is nice, and it's really the only option for exercise and swimming.  But the rules!  They are ridiculous.  Parker hasn't passed the swim test yet so he isn't allowed to even be in the knee-deep section of the pool without an adult.  So I roll up my pants and stand there because apparently that makes him safe.  Not to mention the pool is so small and there are so many lifeguards that it's physically impossible to be more than ten feet away from any lifeguard at any given time.  So I stand in the pool fully clothed.  Sometimes I read a book, just to make their rule look even more ridiculous. 

It was after another swimming episode with my mind reeling from all the rules that I took my little boys across the hall to play in the game room.  There were 2 workers, one adult and one teenager, and they had set up a few special activities along with a PlayStation for kids to play.  I handed them my ID so they could check Landon in and slap a sticker with his name and birthday on the back (don't ask me why either of those things are necessary) but the teenager said it would end in a few minutes and wasn't worth checking Landon in.  I was nice and sat down to wait out the few minutes until the workers would leave and my boys could play unsupervised.  Then I noticed one of my Cub Scouts and Landon's friend over at the PlayStation.  Here's the good part.....
Me: Landon, lets go over and say hi to Beck. (the adult worker who I shall now refer to as "Idiot" overhears me and gets a worried look on her face.)
Landon:  No that's OK, Mom. I can wait.
Me:  Landon, let's just go over and say hi.  I know you can't play on the Play Station because they wouldn't check you in and put a sticker on your back but we can just say hi.
Idiot:  Excuse me ma'am.  But he shouldn't do that.
Me:  Do what?  Walk across the room and say hi to his friend?  Oh please! He's not breaking any rules.
Idiot:  The rules are for his safety Ma'am.
Me: (grabbing Landon by the hand and dragging him across the room) Hi Buddy!  How you doing?  Landon, say hi to your friend!
Landon: hi.
Idiot:  Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.
Me: (dragging Landon back across the room and talking to the Idiot) Why?  It's not like my son is going to get hurt walking across the room!  He was just saying hi to his friend and I stayed with him the whole time.
Idiot:  Ma'am, we have rules for your safety and I'm going to have to ask you to please leave.
Me:  I am leaving.  Don't worry!
Then we hustled out of there and as I drove home I started saying out loud all the things I wished I had said to Idiot.  Landon said, "Mom, who are you talking to?"  And then I realized I was literally going crazy right in front of my son so I told him I was talking to nobody and just going crazy and to not worry about it. 
Landon said, "So, Mom, are you really crazy?" to which I responded, "Yes, Landon.  I have been for a long time.  That's why I talk out loud to myself."
I texted Randy about the whole thing and his text killed me. "They like their rules at the YMCA and you like to break rules, so it is a relationship with inherent challenges."
Big eye roll from me.  But he's right.
And so now I'm posting pictures of my boys holding flares {they weren't ours so that's probably against the rules to pick them up} so we could pretend we were Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games. {Our power was out and it was something fun to do.}
And I let my boys climb around on a tree that had fallen on the power lines near our house.  Yes, I know it's a good rule of thumb to avoid downed power lines but there was clearly no power coming out of those since our house was without power for two days because of said tree. 

Playing on the tree by the light of the full moon

Yes, the tree is laying on the power lines but clearly there was no power running through them, thus a relatively safe place to play

flares are cool

flares are fun

"If we burn, you burn with us!" Katniss Everdeen

The removal of the fallen tree was no small feat but definitely fun to watch.  From a "safe distance" of course