A Wonderful Mix of Awe and Terror
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Boy 4 covers his ears when he’s scared or startled. You know the parts with the witch in Snow White? He’ll stare at the screen, fascinated, with his hands clamped on the sides of his head, his elbows straight out. Same thing with the sharks in “Finding Nemo.” All of us know the comfort of tuning things out.
This is him last July 4th when he was Boy 3. After watching everyone else to make sure they didn’t go up in flames, he got up the nerve to try a sparkler for himself. I approached the candle. His hands moved toward his ears and hovered there, his feet tapping out his anxiety. I lit it. His hands slammed over his ears. I held it out to him. His feet bobbed up and down in place and he found the courage to pull one hand from its ear. He took the sparkler and realized, “I can do scary things and not die!” The camera caught him at that moment of insight.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
It’s pretty cool he has his own way to deal with “fear” besides just crying to the parent (hmm… like my daughter). Did he just learn this on his own? Or is it something that I should teach my daughter also?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I don’t know, Julia. I think maybe he was born knowing it. I’m sure we didn’t teach it to him. It just seemed like a natural reflex.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
That’s a great moment, captured by a father who was fully present at that moment.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:14 am
That’s great that he was able to get over his fear and try a sparkler for himself.