one last story

i took aidan to a park a couple of weeks ago that has an enormously high play/slide structure. it's caged in all the way up to the top and when you get up there you have the choice of three different slides. they are all enclosed tube-like slides all the way to the bottom. the first one he went down was easy, no problem. the second time he picked the blue one. the blue one was the highest, steepest slide. from my vantage point on the ground it didn't seem like a problem. he seemed hesitant, i encouraged him. i stood at the bottom of the tunnel and called up to him "come on down aidan, i'll be right here waiting for you", "okay mommy, i come down" which was followed (seriously) by "thud, thudthud, thud, thudthudthud"--not another sound. the slide was so long that i had time to actually contemplate what was going to pop out of the bottom before aidan actually arrived there. what greeted me was a look of horror & contempt and then a whole lot of tears. fortunately no broken bones and hopefully no therapy in the future.

epilogue: i thought it was important to show aidan that he really could do the slide, he just needed to approach it slower, lay flatter, etc.--the whole "get back on the horse" thing. so i lumbered my way to the top with him (past the sign that read 'these slides not meant for children in the laps of parents') and we went down the blue slide. it was really, really steep and high. we went down it with the soles of my shoes flat on the slide to keep our speed down. when the sign indicates a play structure is for 5 year olds, make sure your child is at least 3.