Sunday, September 16, 2007

Cow attack

It was a gorgeous day in Richmond today, and I decided to give Jason the "day off" to watch football. I packed up the girls and headed out to the zoo (which is 45 minutes away and has 3 tolls each way)... to discover it was closed. We detoured and went to frolic in Carrytown at World of Myrth, grabbed an ice cream cone and then hit Maymont for some serious petting zoo action. Sadie is at the perfect age for this now - she mastered 3 new animal sounds while at the petting zoo today - moo, quack and baa. Yes, she's a genius.

We were about to wrap things up, when a friendly cow came over to the fence for a scratch behind the ears. I gave her some clover I scavenged, which she took with pleasure. Katie decided to do the same. That's when Clarabelle decided to scratch her head against the post, trapping Katies thumb along the way. Of course screaming, jumping and tears ensued, at full volume. Sadie felt left out, and began to scream as well. Passersby stopped to stare, wondering if the cow was to have the same fate as those poor bears last year (I'm still ticked about the bears).

Feeling like the neglectful mom I so detested last year (again a reference to the infamous bear incident), I carried Katie out (still screaming) while pushing the stroller with Sadie in it (also screaming) to our vehicle. Everyone stopped to stare. Several prissy moms gave me death looks. Perhaps they didn't see the cow attack and thought I had been beating my children. The thought did cross my mind half way up the hill, but no, the children were unscathed from my end of things.

We left the park, Sadie still screaming, Katie reduced to sobs. Fifteen minutes later, Sadie was still screaming. Katie was stopped sobbing long enough to begin yelling to Sadie "Shush - You have NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO GET SMUSHED BY A COW. You're just a baby." Which then reduced Katie to tears once again, realizing how terribly horrible it was to be a victim of such a gruesome incident.

We arrived home 30 minutes later. Sadie still screaming. Katie still teary.

Alas, no support group seems to exist for victims of cow attacks. I guess Katie's on her own for this one. Jason owes me. Big time.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous7:00 AM

    You were at Maymont yesterday? So were we! I was there with the Little A and my rents.

    I know exactly which cow. She was hoovering grass when we saw her. She jammed her head under the fence right in front of Alastair. He backed up with this look of fear. Then he grinned at her big nasty cow tongue. From a safe distance of course.

    Katie is now a part of a grand tradition for kids raised in Richmond: Getting injured by animals at Maymont. Both Adrian and I were bit by ducks at the lake area when we were about her age.

    She's a Richmond Gal now.

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