Facing Fears with Daddy
There comes a time in a toddler's life when they realize that fear is a real thing. No more peering over the side of the bed and continuing to scoot off, unfazed by the fact that you are about to plummet onto your head. No more attempting to put your hand over an open flame because you think the colors are cool and exciting. Baby boy knows he's gonna get burned.
And such is life; learning from experiences and mistakes that there are certain things you only want to do once and then you know it's not worth risking it again. Sometimes this is a good thing (in the case of the open flame and falling off the bed), but sometimes it makes me sad to see this once carefree little adventurer become so cautious.
Especially because "Nature Explorer Niall" is definitely one of my favorite Nialls.
As he's getting older, Niall is unfortunately learning that there are bad guys and monsters, that it's easy to fall and get hurt, and that some things are just plain scary. So, he's suddenly becoming fearful of things that he is and always has been totally capable of doing...
But that's where daddy comes in. Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like I'm either being too pushy or too coddling; but daddy always seems to know how to find just the right balance.
He knew that the slide was out of the question that day, but Matt was determined to take it slow and find something that he and Niall could tackle together and feel brave about on their Father's Day celebration in the park.
We don't go to the park as a family very often, so I warned Matt that there was a lot of stuff at this huge park that Niall was not going to want to do, but somehow daddy exhibited the perfect amount of enthusiasm, understanding, motivation and encouragement. That's what dads do-- they step into the fire first and prove that everything will be ok.
And sure enough, Niall climbed that impossible web...
There's no way that I could have ever gotten him to do that. And that's what I love about Matt. These guys are pretty lucky.
And so am I :)
And such is life; learning from experiences and mistakes that there are certain things you only want to do once and then you know it's not worth risking it again. Sometimes this is a good thing (in the case of the open flame and falling off the bed), but sometimes it makes me sad to see this once carefree little adventurer become so cautious.
Especially because "Nature Explorer Niall" is definitely one of my favorite Nialls.
As he's getting older, Niall is unfortunately learning that there are bad guys and monsters, that it's easy to fall and get hurt, and that some things are just plain scary. So, he's suddenly becoming fearful of things that he is and always has been totally capable of doing...
But that's where daddy comes in. Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like I'm either being too pushy or too coddling; but daddy always seems to know how to find just the right balance.
He knew that the slide was out of the question that day, but Matt was determined to take it slow and find something that he and Niall could tackle together and feel brave about on their Father's Day celebration in the park.
We don't go to the park as a family very often, so I warned Matt that there was a lot of stuff at this huge park that Niall was not going to want to do, but somehow daddy exhibited the perfect amount of enthusiasm, understanding, motivation and encouragement. That's what dads do-- they step into the fire first and prove that everything will be ok.
And sure enough, Niall climbed that impossible web...
All. by. himself.
There's no way that I could have ever gotten him to do that. And that's what I love about Matt. These guys are pretty lucky.
And so am I :)
Lovely post! What a cutie! And your husband sounds like a keeper!
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