A Walking Two Year Old

I used to have a boy who did not walk. That's not entirely true, he COULD walk, he just didn't see the point in walking from point A to point B in any sort of useful manner. Rather than wait out the eternity it would take to walk to the grocery store at 2 year old pace, I got into the rather bad habit of scooping him up and carrying him to wherever I was trying to go...even if this intended destination was a playground or similar place meant primarily for K's entertainment. BAD HABIT!

Once I came down with this semi-debilitating stomach bug from the trenches of hell, I found myself utterly incapable of carrying K anywhere. He screamed for a while...rather pitifully trailing behind N and I while we shuffled to the next door grocery store for soup and saltines. Nevermind the fact that we were very rationally explaining why it was simply impossible to expect that either of us could carry him the few remaining feet to the store. We explained about bellyaches and feeling sick, and helping Mommy and Daddy out to pretty much no avail.

And then, N and K went on a walk together. It required some heart to heart discussion about helping Mommy out and now my boy walks. Not only walks!, he occasionally RUNS. (I have a feeling there was some candy involved, and I'm sure the few days of being shut in with sick parents shed a new light on self-mobility.)

Yes, there's still some whining...but we take it slow, and we have only been walking to short destinations that are entirely worthwhile for K (i.e. playgrounds), so there's been REAL progress.

Yesterday, we were waiting for the local metro rail to take us home when I overheard a mother scream at her daughter, who looked roughly K's age, to walk. I know the feeling all too well. Is there ANYTHING more frustrating than KNOWING your child can walk and yet refuses leaving you with either a tantrum situation (PLUS no walking) or a passive 40lb dead weight to carry? Apparently this is why everyone uses a stroller until the kid's school-aged! (Note: I'm not agreeing with the screaming solution, just sympathizing with the general feelings of frustration a toddler's refusal to walk can invoke in the hardiest of parents.)

In What Bizarro World...?

I believe we are all aware of the 'baby' swings found at most playgrounds. They don't appear particularly dangerous do they?

The other day, I took K down to a local park we often frequent that is populated primarily by grad or doctorate students studying from abroad...along with the local neighborhood crew of upper middle class, educated women and their own little ones. Nearly everyone has some association with the local university and the (presumed) sum intelligence of these people has always given me hope that one day I will meet a fellow mother who I can truly befriend. 

In any case, the incident that occurred the other day was this: A young girl of about 4 or 5 years climbed into one of the available 'baby' swings and began swinging herself using the physical force of her body and the in-out motion of her legs. Finding this a bit dull and 'ordinary', she carefully pulled herself into a standing position and using the power of her body continued to swing. A fellow father and I observed her the entire time and saw no danger in her actions. However, when her own father came round the bend, he seemed shocked at her self-sufficiency and creativeness. Harping on the point of safety, and physical endangerment, he forced her to get out of the swing exclaiming, "In what Bizarro world does that seem like a good thing to do?! Never EVER do that again!"

And while all this was ridiculous enough to have me rolling my eyes, the verbal agreements among most of the other parents was just shocking. K is 2, and he has swung standing up a few times in a normal swing...possibly a bit dangerous, but the point is that I TRUST he will not undertake something he cannot handle. Perhaps children really are so vastly different that one subset will routinely undertake actions that will actually lead to physical harm and/or death if not prevented by their caretakers, but, from my observation of children, I'd have to say this is not a natural trait. Rather, it is one CREATED by the very parents who will not allow their child any permissible level of endangerment in their play and exploration. 

It bothers me a lot because for what purpose are we quashing children's natural tendencies to explore and manipulate their environment...PARTICULARLY their PLAY environment?! As one older man remarked to me when K tripped on the pavement while running and ended up with a scratched knee, "you hardly see a scratched knee anymore." Personally, I'm not so sure that is a good thing if it comes at the expense of suffocating your child's natural tendencies.