Gutter Skateboard Retrieval

"That is one expensive skateboard!"

This remark came from a chatty Wal-Mart associate as he rang up Rob's purchase.  I had suggested to Rob (13) that he buy a less expensive one, but he had earned the money and refused to be talked out of spending forty dollars on a skateboard.

When we got home the kids immediately took to the street to test the new wheels. 

Less than five minutes later, Rob came crashing through the door.  "My skateboard just went in the gutter!!!"

"You mean the skateboard you just spent all of your money on and that you have owned for exactly fifteen minutes is now in the gutter?  THAT skateboard?"

I wasn't using my inside voice.

Rob grabbed a broom.  We all ran down the street.

Our street has a cavernous gutter to catch excess water.  Drainage openings are about 3 feet wide and less than a foot tall.  We could see the skateboard sitting at the bottom of the gutter, but the angle was impossible - no one could reach it.  The broom was useless. 

My five kids and I stood there silently staring into the gutter trying to figure out what to do.

Kirsten (15) had the idea that Emma might be able to fit her skinny little 8-year-old body into the opening.  Turns out that she could, as long as she turned her head upon entering.  So Rob held Emma's ankles and slowly lowered her, head first, down into the gutter.

Just as Emma's hands reached the skateboard and she yelled "I have it!," the sprinklers turned on in the lawn we were standing to retrieve the skateboard.  No lie, not even a slight exaggeration.  They were very effective at getting us very wet very quickly.

Slightly panicky, I yelled at Rob not to let Emma's ankles slip through his fingers.  Emma, slightly more panicked, said she couldn't pull the skateboard up. Kirsten laid down on the curb next to her, reached her arms down as far as she could, grabbed the skateboard, and maneuvered it up and out of the gutter.

Emma's head and most of her body were still deep in the gutter, getting wetter by the second.  As I was suggesting that Rob pull Emma up slowly and carefully so he wouldn't scrape her stomach and instructing Emma to turn her head when she came up so she wouldn't get her head stuck in the narrow opening, a man ran over from across the street and gallantly stepped on the closest sprinkler head to stop the flow of water. 

I should have thought of that.

We all watched Emma emerge victoriously from the gutter - unscathed except that her long hair had seen much better days.

The man was all smiles and amazement. "I've lived here a long time and have seen lots of things go into that gutter, but I've never seen anybody actually go in after them like you just did.  That is AWESOME!"

As we were walking back up the street, Rob turned to Emma and said, "Thanks, Emma.  I owe you one.  Let me know next time you need something."

These words came from the mouth of a teenager who has recently been treating his younger sister as a little more than a huge annoyance.  I have lost plenty of sleep over this, wondering how it is that my kids can't seem to be nice to each other for heaven's sake.

In retrospect, I admit that it might not be the best idea to let my eight year old daughter be fed headfirst into a gutter by my thirteen year old son.

But I wonder if any other situation on the planet would have compelled Rob to say those kind words to his sister, words that her tender eight-year-old heart needed to hear.

If a skateboard in the gutter is what it takes, bring it on.  I'm not picky that way.