Fear?!

TJ is a rock. Nothing phases him.

Shots and vaccines? Ha, a little whimper and he's as good as new.

Bonk on the head? Bhah, he just gets up and keeps going.

Strangers? That's just a new person to wave to.

Thunder at 2:22am? That's nothing...oh, wait a minute. Hold on everyone.

On Sunday morning at 2:22am a storm rolled through Cortland and the rest of Central NY. This wasn't the far away, distant rumble of thunder. No, this was BAM! CRASH!! KA-BooM! TJ was wide awake and screaming! Not the, "hey, where are you big people who love me?" call that we get from time to time. No, this was the, "GET IN HERE NOW!" panicked shout of a one year old in distress. Lisa went running and I turned on the light.

Lisa brought TJ into the bed and he was trembling, shaking, and w-i-d-e awake. His eyes were the size of saucers as he looked for the source of the thunder. By now the storm had moved away and the noise was less obscene. Still, TJ looked from window to window trying to find the sound.

(As I write this another storm is passing through and TJ has just gone to bed. Maybe this is a passing thing, or maybe he is too tired to care right now.)

We tried to get him to fall asleep with us. Something we have never accomplished because he wiggles to much and because I can't stand baby feet walking all over me all night long. So TJ went back to his bed and amazingly drifted quickly back off to bed.

My son is an amazingly happy, easy mannered child. I have never seen him slink back in fear from anything, really. Sunday morning was a first without a doubt. And I guess I wonder what that means. For the most part we teach our children what to be afraid of in this world. Fear of people different from us. Fear of ideas not like ours. Fear of the things we cannot explain with our own limited understanding of the world. I want my children to know what to be afraid of and to know the difference between the lightning and the thunder.