On the one hand, Uncle James lives life to the fullest and always seems to be enjoying himself. There are many days that I wish I worried a lot less and could just enjoy myself like Sydney's Uncle James. On the other hand, there were some serious questions about Uncle James being able to survive his teenage years.... In any case, I would love it if Sydney had some qualities in common with her uncle, I'm just not sure that a driving need to do stunts is the quality that I would have picked.
Too bad I don't really get a choice....
The footage above gives you Sydney's first attempt at a stunt. I consider it a stunt, anyway, because it takes a relatively easy thing (sliding down a toddler slide) and adds a new element (a foam pad) in order to make the task both more difficult and more dangerous. The fact that Sydney couldn't quite pull it off isn't really the point. Especially since later she found that if she put the foam pad on the bottom of the slide, she could slide into it, which was almost as good.
So this post is for you, Uncle James: May Sydney learn from you how to do cool stunts without breaking any important bones.
OK this one made me cry. So much like James, it's like she's in a mirror. Little baby adrenaline junkies are such a challenge, but so full of life and love and joy! If you do as you already are, and encourage safer outlets for their creative stunts, they will be free to be who they are and may actually survive to be adults! You are so right... we really wondered about James' survival odds. But if I had tried to change him as a person, it would have been a failure and we would have both been miserable. The key (as you have figured out) is to channel them in a safer direction: training, safety equipment, and so on. I guess the Army took over that role for me! Sure do miss having him around to share his adventures first hand!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. She really needs her Uncle James to share his stories and help her plan safer stunts. Sigh. I guess the Army will give him back to us soon enough. But, yes, I often think that she must be so like the way James must have been as a toddler. Be on the look out for the entry coming up about my fearless waterbaby....
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