Me and my clone
I remember the days when my kids thought Dave worked at "the apple store."
Kids are real cute that way. (Do not ask me why Hoyt has an apple in their logo).
For a few weeks, we have been wanting to take the kids to see where Dave works now, so on Tuesday last we packed them up and took them to the visitor's center at the Kennecott Copper Mine.
I can only recollect being at the mine visitor center one time in my life. I'm thinking I was about ten. The interesting thing is that the face of the mine looks completely different, but the visitor center looks exactly the same (even though it is in a completely different location). We got running short on time and I wish we had had more time to spend there because all the displays were very interesting and the kids really, really liked it.
Outside the visitor's center, you can go to the edge of the parking lot and take in the expansive view of the mine. It. is. awesome. They had done some blasting earlier in the day, so the air was filled with dust and particles. How cool is that? And we got to watch the huge haul trucks bring rubble back from the blast site.
And the one especially cool part: If you go to the edge and look down down down over the side, you can see Dave's office window. Well, we beckoned the children to come to the edge and look down down down over the side and "see where daddy works." Kammi never thought twice about it. She followed us willingly and without fear. Zach, however, did not.
Zach is like a little clone of me. He's go his dad's nose and knees, but everything else, especially his personality and his irrational fears and anxiety, that's all me baby.
That is how I knew that Zach did not shy away from the edge because he was uninterested in the view or because he is afraid of heights. He is not afraid of heights; he is afraid of the edge. (Insert ominous music)
And it's not just the physical edge. His reluctance to go to the edge of that cliff and look over it is a personality trait that carries through to all the other aspects of his life. If he sees danger, senses danger, he stays back away from it (unlike Kammi and her dad who never met a rule they didn't immediately want to break). He observes until he has enough information to make a good decision about it. Yes, he did finally go to the edge and enjoy the views, which can actually make you a little dizzy, and he fully experienced all the mine had to offer us. But I was ever so proud of him for being wary.
My whole life I've kind of thought of this reluctance to go to the edge as something that hindered me from
1-being normal
2-having fun
3-relaxing
4-enjoying life.
I've always felt that I have too many inhibitions about things that just don't matter. That's no way to live.
But seeing it in Zach, and being grateful for his abhorance of breaking rules, and hoping that this stubborn unwillingness to approach what is dangerous will keep him safe in his teen years and beyond, I'm kind of thinking it can be a good trait too.
For a few weeks, we have been wanting to take the kids to see where Dave works now, so on Tuesday last we packed them up and took them to the visitor's center at the Kennecott Copper Mine.
I can only recollect being at the mine visitor center one time in my life. I'm thinking I was about ten. The interesting thing is that the face of the mine looks completely different, but the visitor center looks exactly the same (even though it is in a completely different location). We got running short on time and I wish we had had more time to spend there because all the displays were very interesting and the kids really, really liked it.
Outside the visitor's center, you can go to the edge of the parking lot and take in the expansive view of the mine. It. is. awesome. They had done some blasting earlier in the day, so the air was filled with dust and particles. How cool is that? And we got to watch the huge haul trucks bring rubble back from the blast site.
And the one especially cool part: If you go to the edge and look down down down over the side, you can see Dave's office window. Well, we beckoned the children to come to the edge and look down down down over the side and "see where daddy works." Kammi never thought twice about it. She followed us willingly and without fear. Zach, however, did not.
Zach is like a little clone of me. He's go his dad's nose and knees, but everything else, especially his personality and his irrational fears and anxiety, that's all me baby.
That is how I knew that Zach did not shy away from the edge because he was uninterested in the view or because he is afraid of heights. He is not afraid of heights; he is afraid of the edge. (Insert ominous music)
And it's not just the physical edge. His reluctance to go to the edge of that cliff and look over it is a personality trait that carries through to all the other aspects of his life. If he sees danger, senses danger, he stays back away from it (unlike Kammi and her dad who never met a rule they didn't immediately want to break). He observes until he has enough information to make a good decision about it. Yes, he did finally go to the edge and enjoy the views, which can actually make you a little dizzy, and he fully experienced all the mine had to offer us. But I was ever so proud of him for being wary.
My whole life I've kind of thought of this reluctance to go to the edge as something that hindered me from
1-being normal
2-having fun
3-relaxing
4-enjoying life.
I've always felt that I have too many inhibitions about things that just don't matter. That's no way to live.
But seeing it in Zach, and being grateful for his abhorance of breaking rules, and hoping that this stubborn unwillingness to approach what is dangerous will keep him safe in his teen years and beyond, I'm kind of thinking it can be a good trait too.
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