Graviy never takes a break, does it? It's kind of unfortunate, but that's how we all learned about balance and coordination growing up.
My kid, like most of us growing up has a thirst for action that seems bottomless. We couldn't count all the 'near miss' accidents if we tried. They occur almost daily. As a parent you have that impulse to counteract as much of these accidents as possible, however some just slip by you because whatever you've said to your child we all know you don't 'have eyes in the back of your head'. Also, who wants to make their child live in a cardboard box just to keep them safe from the outside world? It's that fine line of protecting yet not hindering that takes an evolving skill of finese in order to caretake yet not be In The Way of your child's development.
Today Shayla wanted to practice some more on the neighbor's front yard rope swing. This a swing that is very low to the ground with a plastic base and made for kids like herself. "Don't let go whatever you do", I told her! She was good. She swung for a while while I gently pushed her. "Higher, higher", she said! Nope, I wasn't doing that. So we gently kept swinging until the round base slipped out from under her bottom, then she was surprised by that and let go. 'Konk', she hit the ground. (She fell about 10 inches.) Silence for about 3 seconds, then she started to cry--out of shock mostly. Then I picked her up and cuddled her and the cries abated in about 3 minutes or so. She hit feet first then collapsed onto her back until she bonked her head on the ground at the finish. I knew everything was alright when she said that she needed to do it again, presumably to 'get it right' this time. I quickly redirected to the lunch we were about to prepare, as I carried her inside consoling her. "Negative Ghostrider, once is enough for today", I thought to myself.
And so it goes: the protecting, the getting out of the way, and the applying of the salve of love for the wounds that sometimes occur external and internal... Hmmm. Fatherhood. You've got to love it....I do.