Rules Change

"How was your supper last night?" "How were the rides?" "How was the weather?"  You know the answer, 'Fair!"  For some reason our mind set, and the rules, change at the Fair.  Bailee rode the Ferris Wheel that through my eyes seemed to tip precariously to the right.  A clam fell out of my netting onto the table and I retrieved it to join the rest in a hardening cup of butter (or a near facsimile.)  I paid THREE DOLLARS for ONE game of shoot the green solo cup and I allowed her to ride the merry go round operated by a man carrying a portable oxygen bottle who couldn't take an entire breath without gagging and gasping for air. I made sure she held tightly to the long railing as she ascended up the giant slide and then, we sent her to buy cotton candy with a strange (we'd never met till 10 minutes prior) young man allowing her to buy the largest bag for $6.00 and then eat most of it!!
For the 6 years and 7 months prior to that we have barely let the child out of our sight, sugar is at a minimum, strangers are a HUGE negative even if Grandma, Papa or Mom knows them, and she even has to wear her helmet on the four wheeler...... going backwards. We carry hand sanitizer with us everywhere and push doors open and closed with our elbows. There isn't even a 3 second rule even at my house!!  So what in our small town brains changes at Fair Time?  No wonder she looked at us with those amazing brown eyes each and every time we allowed and even encouraged this strange behavior!!  I think it might just be a slight, summer, out of body experience that we all encounter when the carnies arrive, the lights sparkle on the midway, the smell of freshly oiled donuts hits our nostrils and the carnival atmosphere invades our normally, well adjusted brain.  For some strange reason, the rules change and maybe a couple of times a year, that's a really good thing..(or maybe just Fair....!)