The Truth About the Horse

It was the Wednesday before Christmas, two days before Christmas eve.  Jody and I were at Wal-Mart, with Will, trying to make a few last minute purchases for Sam and Jack.  It was crowded with others who had waited until the last minute just like us.  We spent nearly an hour waiting in the aisle that housed the bicycles and riding toys, hoping to find a truck for Sam.  Will grew impatient after a half hour and I searched for something to distract him with.  There, pushed next to the bicycles, was a small, black horse.  I pulled it out, hoping it would buy me a little more time.  I sat him on the horse and he looked up to me, unsure of what I was doing.  I began to make the horse rock and squeezed his ear to make him sing.  And my baby's face lit up like I'd never seen before.  He smiled and giggled and began rocking his body back and forth with the motion of the horse.  I picked him up and he whined until I sat him back on the horse.  I squeezed the ear and  again the song made my boy's face light up.  People began stopping in the aisle to watch him on that horse. And they commented on his demeanor and how cute he was and what a happy little boy I have. Again, I took him off the horse, this time after realizing that it sheds.  A lot.  The black hair in the mane was all over his clothes and stuck on his cheeks and neck.  I wiped it off his face and turned to walk away.  And again Will grew restless and began to whine.  And with no sales clerk in site to help us, I plopped him back on the little horse. Again I played the song.  The very corny, very annoying song..."I'm a little pony.  Clippety-clop. Clippety-clop.  Such a pretty pony.  Clippety-clop. Clippety-clop."  And again he became the happiest baby on the planet.  And again people stopped to watch him.  And now people were stopping to tell me that they "sure hoped that horse was going home with us" and "you know you have to buy that for him, don't you?"  And soon I found myself putting that horse into our cart.  The horse with the annoying song and mane that sheds.  A gift I had no intention of buying.  I dreaded picking that black hair off his clothes and I knew that song would play over and over again in my head.  But on Christmas morning and every day since then, he has ridden that horse.  And every time he sits on it, he again becomes the happiest baby on the planet.  Which, in turn, makes me the happiest Mama on the planet.  Even with it's shedding mane and ridiculous song.  Note to self:  Never take Will with me to a car dealership.