Fighting the Power

Gravity is a big deal when you're a kid, seemingly insurmountable a lot of the time. You fall a lot; you scrape your knees (and various other parts of yourself); many of the most interesting things are too heavy to carry. Meanwhile, grown-ups construct play equipment that underscores the spiritual difficulty of being earthbound and the joy of rising above. The equipment is fun, of course, but it also creates no shortage of heart-stopping moments for parents, who, though less constrained by gravity than toddlers in many cases, have to stay in constant touch with its seriousness. Annalee is willing to devote less of her awareness than I wish to where she is going while on the playscape, so far, and alternates between wanting absolutely no assistance of any kind and wanting both hands' held while she makes her way up stairs and across gangplanks. I will continue to err on the side of caution, I suspect, until I see my little angel's focus approach a hundred percent (and may not stop then).