Paulina went with her friend to hang out at her stable, and ride horses for the evening.  When she got home, Paulina was beside herself with excitement, telling me about how affordable it is to ride, almost free in fact, if you just go to the stable three times a week and help with the horses.

I stripped all her clothes off her, and threw them in the washing machine, my sneezing began and within minutes I was wheezing as if I had just gotten off a horse myself.  I am highly allergic to horses, and any other creature with a furry body.

I took the smelly daughter upstairs to shower, and listened to her chat dreamily about horses and riding, while holding a tissue to my nose and using my inhalers.  Finally, she was clean and no longer an anaphylaxsis hazard, but mad at me because, being the dream crusher that I am, I had crushed her fantasy of taking riding lessons instead of playing rep soccer next summer.

It was after 10pm, way too late for her to be up, so I excused her sudden sullenness and allowed her to plop into bed without brushing her teeth-or combing her long wet hair.  I told her it was her problem, but I knew it would be mine when morning rolled around and she looked like a red haired, 10 year old Medusa. 

My sneezing and wheezing for some reason did not seem reason enough to her to forget about the horse dream, because I could ‘just drop her off’ every day and go back to her pick up.’  Hmm, yes that is a definite possibility- I could pack all the kids into the van three times a week and drive for 45 minutes to drop her off with strangers, drive 45 minutes to get back home, and then pack the kids up again 2 hours later to go get her and drive 45 minutes to pick her up and then 45 minutes to get home.  Now, math is not my forte but even to me that seems like a lot of driving!

Tomorrow, I need to convince her that her hamsters can be good horse substitutes, after all it is time to muck out their cages, and I’m allergic to them too.