Risking A Tumble

It says something about me as a parent, I guess, that my first impulse when D started pulling tricks like this (he was about 13 months old in this shot) was to run for the camera! Before I became a parent, I wondered what sort of mom I would be. Based on my experiences with other people's kids, I thought I'd probably be silly, pretty strict about manners, and possibly something of a worrywart. I was right on the first two counts.

I had good cause to think that I'd be a worrier, because when entrusted with other people's children, that was a dominant part of my experience. But once I became a parent myself I realized that much of that worry stemmed from a lack of knowledge and understanding. How could I know for sure if Tasha was capable of successfully landing a launch from the fourth step up?

But with D, I had that first taste of the famous "mother's instinct," and apparently my instinct leans towards the "Hey, what's the worst thing that could happen?" end of the spectrum. Especially because he's a relatively cautious kid, or at least a kid who has a clear sense of what he can and cannot do.

All through his toddler years, other mothers cut me looks as I let him pull stunts like the one pictured above. But he hardly ever fell. And when he did, as terrible as I felt, he always seemed to feel that it was the price of trying. He was shaken a few times, but never truly hurt, and always bounced right back up.

Which brings us to the present. Here he is now, almost five, still relatively unscathed, still enjoying testing his limits.

I hope that I can continue to hang onto my laid back mama stance as the risks get riskier.

(Many thanks to the wonderful women at Mama Says Om
for their continuing inspiration. I've been away and computerless,
and tried like crazy to get through your great "Relax" entries
before they went "poof"... wish we had an archive!
Although maybe that wouldn't be in the
in the moment spirit of the site.
Anyway, missed y'all, and thanks for stopping by.)