The Capybara that Saved Fall Break

I must admit, it’s been quite a while since I have written a Sunday Short Story. To be honest, the busyness of life, working with a start-up, and momming two small kids have taken up most of my free time. However, I have recently heard from a few lovely friends who casually, yet genuinely mentioned, “I really miss your stories.” No description will do justice to how much joy this simple statement brings me, and I sit in complete gratitude for anyone who reads (and hopefully enjoys) my writing.

I’ve witnessed quite a bit of change while living in Nashville the last eighteen years. What used to feel like a city with a small-town vibe has completely transformed into a metropolis for all with high rises replacing every beloved corner restaurant and neighbors moving in from a little bit of everywhere, announcing their arrival with thick accents that honestly… just aren’t Southern enough for my ears. I have often worried about raising children in Nashville rather than a simpler place- that the privilege and expectations that come with every availability of a big city will overtake them. Side note- I also worry that I’ll lose my Mississippi accent in the mix of big city life. However, my children often remind me that anytime I attempt to turn on the movie “Annie” with our voice command remote that the television will interpret my tone to go to the channel “A & E”. Not one time can I get that curly, redheaded songbird on the screen. Needless to say, I think the drawl is sticking, as are hopefully my simpler way of life child rearing standards.

As my slow speak continues to thankfully linger, I looked up one day to realize a fast-paced summer transformed into fall. At the beginning of October, my daughter was running errands with me when we came across a strange looking stuffed animal. My little girl gasped with excitement and exclaimed, “That’s it! That’s what I’m getting for Ruffin’s birthday tomorrow. It is his favorite animal!”

I picked up the interesting animal and said, “I don’t even know what this is. What do you mean it’s his favorite animal?”

Lou Lou shot her blue eyes at me underneath her dark hair hanging in her face and replied, “Mom… it’s a capybara” and continued down the aisle, animal tucked under her arm.

“What the heck is a capybara?”

“It’s Ruffin’s favorite animal, Mom. And it is so cute!” She squeezed the odd looking squishmellow in the middle of aisle fifteen with all of her might.

I was confused. How on Earth was I forty-three years old and just now hearing about a capybara? Once I got home, I whipped out my phone and started researching my son’s supposed favorite animal. And there it was… the capybara…the world’s largest rodent. “World’s largest rodent? Gross” I thought to myself. Although, it was kind of cute.

The birthday morning eventually came, and Lou Lou was right. Ruffin was thrilled to receive the stuffed animal capybara and agreed that it was in fact his current favorite animal. Mind blown, I checked the birthday celebrations off my October list and moved onto the next adventure- Fall Break. Now, Fall Break is ever so frustrating for me. The kids have finally adjusted to the routine of school and apparently, they need to have a break from it all? Make it make sense. Honestly, it is a logistical wrench in all the things for our household, but we do the best we can because I am sure it’s mostly for the teachers.

I frantically started to plan Fall Break (a few days before) knowing my husband would be traveling for work so it was up to me to entertain our busy children. I looked up college football schedules, but every team they were interested in seeing was either sitting in a bye week or at a random away game we could not get to. I thought about running up to Dollywood, but that had been done a time or two. I considered zipping over to Memphis, but their grandparents had just taken them to a Peabody and Rendezvous adventure while I worked. I overheard my children innocently discussing some of the lavish vacations their schoolmates were partaking in, and internally winced, knowing my simpler ideas were not even close to that ballpark, and silently hoped for a Fall Break miracle. Brainstorming and blind faith were my only chance.

With the world’s largest rodent fresh on my mind, I desperately googled “Nashville Capybara”. To my complete surprise, my search revealed a chance of having an up-close animal encounter with a capybara only forty minutes down the road. That was it! Our first day of Fall Break would be a surprise visit with the world’s largest rodent at Lucky Ladd Farms. I prayed the adventure would suffice my children’s hopeful expectations that were depending on my last-minute creativity.

Thursday morning of official Fall Break rolled around and my tired, yet eagerly anxious children woke me up asking, “what are we going to do today, Mom? It’s Fall Break!”

“I have a surprise,” was my only response. They begged and pleaded while I enjoyed my coffee and dressed for the day’s adventures. They guessed over and over, never landing on anything close to the rodent ramblings that were in store for us. I fed them something similar to brunch (depending on how you look at it), then loaded them up in the car to go see what this capybara was all about.

After a forty-minute drive outside of Nashville, I finally felt like I could breathe from the hubbub of the bustling metropolis we live in. I drove down windy roads near fishing ponds and gas stations I just knew by looking at them had a live bait section somewhere in the back. It was glorious out there.

Finally, we pulled into a gravel road as my children squealed with delight. They had visited the farm on multiple field trips and were simply excited for the change of scenery. As I parked my car, I turned around and said, “Guys…guess what you get to meet today?”

Their eyes widened with anticipation. “What?” whispered my son.

“You are going to meet a capybara.”

The screams filled my car so loudly I assumed it scared the nearby farm animals. I had never seen such excitement. Both Lou Lou and Ruffin looked at each other and said, “My friends are never going to believe it.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that this simple gesture was enough to mark a great memory in their mind when they thought about Fall Break. So many times, as a mother living in a world full of subconscious comparison pushed by social media, I consistently worry I am not doing enough yet try to reign them in for balance to enjoy the little moments (like meeting a rodent).

Our scheduled encounter time came, and my children could hardly stand the anticipation. We were ushered into the tucked away capybara habitat and were formally introduced to a six-month-old ball of fur with buck teeth and a hankering for lettuce named Pancakes. Yes, his name was Pancakes…with an s. The official savior of 2024 Fall Break was a furry rodent named Pancakes. My children were filled with a mixture of excitement and contentment- a lovely combination that is extremely hard to come by from things this mom cooks up. Pancakes immediately bonded with both kids, as he was apparently more comfortable around young visitors, and the day (or break) was officially made. Mom for the win with an extra side of rodent bonus points.

We wrapped up our farm visit with more animal encounters, a few slides, a corn maze, and some apple cider. As I drove the windy roads back to the big city life, both kids fell hard asleep as visions of capybaras danced in their head. Only once did my son wake up to mention that he wanted to go catfishing the next day. I took a long exhale as I realized that no matter what, we were in fact raising good kids that enjoyed the simple things in life, and that maybe just being aware and attempting the balance with good intention was what made the difference. After all, it didn’t take a lavish vacation to provide contentment. It only took the world’s largest rodent (and a couple of catfish) to keep them happy.

The Capybara that Saved Fall Break

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