No fear

It seems like kids can get precocious over night. One day I’ve got two kids who can play semi-unsupervised for decent periods of time without me worrying that they are writing on the walls or drinking paint. The next minute they have grown into brazen explorers who fear nothing…not even the belt.

What do the words “be careful” mean to a toddler anyway? It wasn’t until I saw my kid hanging by one hand from the top row of the back side of the bleachers looking straight at me saying, “Look, Mom. I’m being careful,” that I realized just how different the meaning of that phrase is to a parent and a child.

I suppose I can remember having a fear-nothing attitude. It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I imagined myself breaking my neck while attempting to water ski behind my need-for-speed brother-in-law. Before that, it seemed ok to wake up the next morning with a sore back and arms and legs that wouldn’t function, not to mention a wild case of whiplash that took weeks to go away. So I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my kids scale refrigerators, kitchen cabinets, and chain-link fences every chance they get.

I know part of what I perceive as orneriness is simply curiosity, and of course I want my kids to be curious. I believe curiosity helps instill a love for learning. So when the kid takes his wet, pink, sidewalk chalk and-out of curiosity-attempts to see if it is just as effective all over the side of the house (and the new white storm door) as it is on the porch, I must be careful how I approach the situation. I certainly don’t want to stifle any creative tendencies he may have.

And if he pours an entire bottle of Tilex into his freshly-run bathwater, it is surely a manifestation of his possible future in the field of chemical engineering?

And if the little one is obsessed with the garbage can, constantly tossing needed, household items in and taking rotten, repulsive items out, I should feel blessed that he has such advanced developmental coordination for his age (regardless of the fact that he has dripped tomato paste all over my carpet and I’ve recently “lost” one shoe, two steak knives, and three sets of keys)?

There are times when I long for the days of worry free play, oblivious to the dangers of germs or sharp objects, or the effect eating dog food can have on little boys’ intestines. But I guess the days of being fearless and carefree are best left to children. My task now is to ensure that my children survive long enough to reap the benefits of their ornery, curious, fearless childhood, just as I did mine.

And that’s All in a day’s work!