Bribe

A couple months ago, Ryan told the kids he would give them $100 if they water skiied.  They both agreed, but as it got closer, Ainsley wasn’t so sure.  By the time we got here, she was out.  Reggie was still wanting to do it because he could buy a lot of toys for $100!  The day came and he was nervous, but Grandma got in the water with him and we were ready.  Ryan was holding the rope handle in the boat and was supposed to let go if Reggie was falling because Reggie’s handle was hooked to the skiies, but it didn’t register in time and the skiies ripped off his feet.  I think it hurt a bit and there were tears and that was the end of it.  Ryan skiied after that and wiped out, but got up and tried again (what a good example!).  So, the next day, Reggie decided he wanted to give it another try.  We did it a bit different this time, dragging him slowly behind the boat, so he could get a feel and then Ryan said, “hit it, he’s ready”.  So, I did and he popped right out of the water, but wouldn’t stand completely up.  The look on his face was sheer terror and he was screaming and crying.  Ryan told me to slow down, but when you are going 10, it is hard to go slower, so he sunk and this time, Ryan let go.  I guess Ryan never told him he was going to go faster than the idle we were dragging him at.  We encouraged him to try it again, but it was too traumatizing and he hasn’t mentioned it since.  All the kids were watching, so although, we have a nice boat, it will likely never get any use :o(.