How a Boy Enjoys a Square Dance

For us, the hay ride at the beginning of the evening just lured us in. Especially when a loud tractor was pulling a small cart where we could attempt feats of danger and adventure. The whole evening became a recipie for adventure when we realized that no one was really watching the kids. Oh, mom might have checked every now and then to make sure we didn't just take off, and that we weren't in the pond, but for the most part we had freedom! Then there was the food. At these things, the food was served buffet style, and there were so many choices! Of course, we weren't actually going to try all of those casseroles and things--too many ingredients!--but at least there were lots of choices. Once we saw the desert table--now that we could sample liberally from! Why exactly did mom say we could only have two things? After dinner, the grown ups wanted to dance. There was no way I was going to dance! Well, it did look kind of fun, so maybe just one dance with mom. . . but if I have to touch another girl, forget it! Most of our evening was spent running around, getting hot and sweaty and playing as rough as we wanted. Don't you just love being somewhere that the grown-ups are distracted and busy! As the evening progressed, someone started a fire. Then we were allowed to burn marshmallows in the fire. Of course, if you burn too many of the marshmallows, you don't get to make a s'more, so I made one, then used any other marshmallows as fuel. But the best part of the evening? Demolishing things with the sledge hammer in the relay race. Who doesn't love smashing things with a sledge hammer? This was the way to spend an evening. Mom got to talk to people, and I didn't have to listen. Only at the end of the evening did I have to remind her that it was time to go. When do we get to do this again?