The Fearless One

When Porter was about 16 months old, we took a trip to Minneapolis to meet some friends. One day, we all went to the amazing Children's Museum downtown. They had a big slide there, the kind where you have to walk up a lot of steps to get to the top, but it was kid-friendly enough for a toddler to do on his own. My friends had kids of the same age, so they all went up. And came down just as fast. Except for Porter. He froze at the top, terrified, and just stood there. A line of kids started to build up behind him (some much older), and they were getting impatient. Making comments. I couldn't get up there at that point, and there was only one way for him to get down. All I could do was yell encouragement, and after a looooooong time, we managed to get him to slide down. Much to the relief of the other excited children.

I don't know why I remember that moment so clearly. I think it was one of the first times I realized that my son was a pretty cautious kind of guy. Since he was my first, I guess I didn't have much to compare him to. Now that he's older, I'm actually appreciative of this quality. He likes to observe for awhile before he participates in anything. And this makes him a lot less likely to get into trouble.

So...today was another lovely one here in the Far North. We have a nice playground in town, and we got to enjoy it. Molly found a slide, climbed to the top, gave me a huge grin, and slid down laughing. And did it again. And again. And again. And threw kind of embarrassing tantrums when I had to let her give someone else a turn. Since she is so young still, this fearlessness manifests in baby-in-oven and slide-loving scenarios, but that's about it. I hope when she's four I can keep her out of trouble.

I'm Cooking: Potato, Cauliflower & Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice. This is an Indian style curry, and while it's not terribly authentic, it is easy and good. Bryce is a self-proclaimed cauliflower hater, and he liked it too.