Conquering Fears

We’ve been to the park a few times this year, and she has been very hesitant to play on the structures, even though she grew to love most of them by the end of last summer. Today we went to a park with my (newly joined) mom’s group, and she approached the structure with caution. While I stood and talked with the other moms, I watched her begin to play on the slides and the steps. She went down the small slides at first, almost without thinking about it, but then decided to try the big kid slides. The first couple of times she attempted them, she would climb to the top of the slide and then climb back down the little ladder.

I continued to observe her without interfering, close enough to bolt to her at a millisecond’s notice. After a few stalled attempts, she gingerly sat down at the top of the slide and glided down, flying off the edge and landing on her feet before tumbling forward and falling. I hesitated, wanting to swoop in and dust her off. However, my tough girl stood up, wiped her hands on her pants and climbed back to the top of the slide. She went down several more times today, and I was even able to get some pictures.

It's only a slide, I know, but I hope that she continues to walk that line between utter freedom and caution.  She is so precious, but I don't want to ever mistake that for fragility.  I see a tenacity in her that will serve her well, and I hope she never loses it - although I am sure it will cause us to clash often during her teenage years!

Dylan enjoyed himself as well. He had a snack and chilled out with the moms. I snuggled him into my Moby wrap, which is an absolute must for us at the park right now. It lets him check out the world around him a little and stay close to me, while keeping my hands free to chase Abbey around and push her on the swings.

This is a pretty high slide.

Hmmm, there's still time to back out of this.

Whee!  I did it!

Let's do it again!