My Visit With My Son (the horse ride & the animals)

I am writing about the non-concerning parts of my visit. Aside from my son's health and a lot of people talking about sick things, and actually, I think all of the "warnings" and "threats" about further harm to come deserve a whole new post as well...

I want to share some parts of the visit. My son LOVES horses. I think it could be an enduring thing. I first asked if he liked horses or 4 wheelers more and he said he liked both. But then, he just went on and on about the horses.

He said he liked it when I bring animals so I brought some stuffed animals for him. He wanted a duck and an elephant so I got these. I also got him a rhino and a lion.

So I had nothing else and no plan but hoped I could come up with a good idea for pretending with the animals.

He loved them and got a little smile on his face when he saw the beanie baby elephant. I told him the name said "Trumpet" and I asked if he wanted me to take the tag off or leave it on and he said, "Leave it on". It was a little heart shaped tag with the name.

So I said okay and I was taking off the sales sticker and he said, "Leave it on!" and I said, "I am! I'm just taking off the sticker for the price."

Oh, first, he really had to use the bathroom so we went and he ran and hit a wall in his flip-flops and got a really small cut. He was whining so much I thought he was exaggerating but then I saw it was bleeding so we washed it and put a band-aid on too. He allowed me to comfort him and sat on my lap and just said ouch a lot and it was a little dramatic but otherwise fine. Once we got the animals out he forgot all about it.

So then he loved this little elephant. I saw a big gorilla in the box but didn't get it because, well the weird thing is, I read somewhere that Diana had some gorilla with red pants she really liked and what's bizarre is that before I was really interested in her, I had bought my own son a stuffed black gorilla with a red "diaper" or pants. I later saw the same one in a photo of the animals on her bed or couch and couldn't believe it. My son was a baby but he loved it.

So then I had this elephant out and he loved it and then I asked what he wanted to name the duck or rhino and he said he didn't know. Later, I read the name on the beanie baby rhino and it was "Spike" but my son decided that since the rhino liked "candy", the name was "Candy". It was Candy The Rhino and I had been using a male voice and wondered if I should switch to a higher pitch after he named it "Candy" but I kept the original voice.

So my son at one point flung the elephant and then it fell near the easter basket thing which usually has crayons in it. I said, "Hey Oliver, maybe next time I can bring a hot-air balloon and we can tie the string to it and it will be like a hot-air balloon!"

He loved this idea and just imagined right then and there, that a balloon was attatched and it was a hot-air balloon. I am not kidding, between the two of us, there is a LOT of imagination. I couldn't believe how he came up with things, like me. So he was hoisting the basket around and had the elephant in and I had the other animals talking, wanting a turn and to hop in so Oliver was saying, "Come on rhino!" So I put the rhino in and the duck and all three were there but the lion felt left out, being bigger so then Oliver gave the lion a turn too and I said, "Do you think I'll FIT?" and Oliver looked and said yes. So we squished him in and he got a ride too.

Then Oliver had popcorn and candy all over, like a giant pinata had exploded and he didn't want me to move even one popped corn. I was like, "Okaaay." so then he was driving cars around and I had the animals racing alongside the car. He really smirked at the rhino trying to snort and keep up. He would drive his car and then look over at the rhino and laugh.

Then I pretended there were these "kids" with their "parents" and they were chasing after the rhino. "Are you a UNICORN?!" the kids said, and then they said, "Mommeee, mommeee, look! a unicorn! lets go get it!!!" and then my son first stopped and looked at me, like "what are you doing mom?" and then I said, "Oliver, I'm pretending there are all these kids here with their moms and dads and they think the RHINO is a UNICORN and they want to chase it!" and Oliver got this big grin and then looked at the "kids" who were not even THERE and pointed at them and said, "Kids! listen!" and he totally started talking to these kids like they were really there! He said, "Kids, it's not a unicorn." and he had the rhino running away from the kids and parents who I pretended were screaming, "A YOONEECORN! Mommmeeee, mommeee, look!" and then saying to the rhino, "Are you a unicorn or a rhino?" and Oliver totally played into it, and pointed at the imaginary kids and talked to them as though they were visible and then treated them like the little people in Gulliver's Travels and pretended to gobble them up and stomp on them to protect the rhino. I said, "Are you the rhino's protector?" and he said yes and held the rhino and when the crowd was chasing him again, and saying they wanted to see the rhino, Oliver had him taking off in a truck and hiding and taking off making an escape in the hot air balloon and then he finally decided to explain to them: "Kids! this isn't a unicorn" and then he explained to the kids that "See, a unicorn has a horn on its head like this, inbetween the ears and this animal has a horn with nostril and on the nose!" Then he explained that "this is rhino and he has a short tail and a unicorn has a big tail!"

It was really cute. So we played like this and made stuff up for a long time, and they all had air balloon rides and a picnic and everything.

Then we laid down and I got some books out and this longer horse book he hadn't been very interested or focused in before was interesting to him. He wanted the entire book read, which went into descriptions of all the horse breeds, and pony breeds. It was a lot of material and he absorbed all of it. He said, for almost every single page, "Mama, I want you to take me there!" or "Mama, I want to go with you to see a horse like this." On almost EVERY page and it was a long book and for all the times he said he wanted ME to take him someplace, the monitor didn't write at all.

When I asked him which color of horse he liked best, he selected the dappled grey. Then he said he liked them all but his first choice was a dappled one. Then he loved the ponies and said he wanted one of his own. When I showed him the wild horses he was amazed they were free and said "What do they do?" and I said, "They get to play a lot" and he said, "Like what?" and I said, "They get to race eachother" and he said, "I would like to race with the horses like that." and then he said, "What else?" and I said, "They like to buck and kick." He thought about that and said he wanted to see it too. He said, "What else?" and I said, "They like to jump!" and he said about the same thing. Then "what else?" and I said, "They like to play in the water" and "Play hide and seek" and things. He saw photos of all the horses and I showed him horses in polo and at the rodeo and in the water and he said he wanted to do all of those things. Then, he was really drawn to the water and the photos of people riding through water or horses in water and said he really wanted to do that on a horse.

I think he has more than passing interest in horses and at this age, could be very good with them. The problem is, is that no one has the time or same interest in giving him all of these things. Sometimes, a lot of times, it's not money. It's making time.

My son should be returned to me without delay.

Taking him was illegal and illegal things were done to make it appear as though he was removed legally. He should be returned to his mother and those who insist on stalling and delaying should be held accountable.