Eric and Lisa

It's interesting the transformation one goes through as a parent. You try to protect your kid and keep his life happy and safe, but when it comes down to it, he has to experience the world at some point. It starts early. Much earlier than my liking, in fact. And when it happens, you have to decide how you're going to react as a parent. Because, ultimately, how you react to the world is how your child will someday react to it. Scary.

Today at the babysitter's house, Ian experienced his first brush with violence. Not by the babysitter, thank goodness, but by another little girl, about a year older than him, who decided it would be interesting to claw at his face in the middle of naptime. Poor Ian has scratches all over his nose and cheeks and looks like he was in a gang fight. Our babysitter dealt with the issue adequately, but it still pains me to think that Ian had to suffer unreasonable anger from another person at such a young age. The mommy in me wants to get that girl's mother's phone number and give her a piece of my mind, but the rational side of me knows that Ian's really fine and that he has to experience unpleasant behavior from his peers at some point. Sure, at eleven months, he's not old enough or mature enough to recognize that the incident wasn't his fault and that the little girl must have some issues that need to be dealt with, but at the very least, he may be able to be aware of the fact that he might want to stay away from her. The key is that I need to start now in helping him deal with the world he's going to encounter for the rest of his life. His life won't always be the happy, stress-free time that it is for him right now. He's going to experience unpleasant things day in and day out as he gets older. And I truly believe that how I react to what happens to me, as well as what happens to him, will make a lasting impact on how he in turn reacts to the world he comes in contact with. I hope that the end result for him is treating people with grace and dignity, and tackling problems with serenity and wisdom.

That's my prayer, anyway. May God help me to show him how.

--Lisa