who you calling a wise guy?!

the students i work with do all sorts of stupid things. they throw full cans of soda into the air, hoping to explode them on the asphalt, not considering that they may incidentally explode on somebody's head. they tackle each other in close proximity to any number of objects that could impale them or cause blunt force trauma. they juggle chainsaws. as a reasonably concerned adult, i typically attempt to nip such questionable behavior in the bud.

the ironic thing is the instant students leave, the adults who work with them immediately take those high risk behaviors to the next level. i once aimed an airsoft gun at a friend of mine who was not wearing goggles and promptly shot him in the tooth. it could have just as easily been his eye.

my son does all sorts of stupid things too. he often throws caution to the wind, seemingly oblivious to the potential consequences of any number of choices he makes on a regular basis. he walks full speed towards sharp drop offs such as stairs, he reaches his hand out towards hot/sharp/or electrified things, he tries to ingest poisonous sea urchin. in any given day, isaac does a number of things that about give me a heart attack.

the tough thing is i know i won't always be around to catch him when he falls off his slide platform or keep him from putting things he would choke on in his mouth. so instead i have to train him to regulate his own behavior. what i am realizing is that i have to be intentional with how i do that.

the most often used phrases in regards to small children (at least boys) are probably "be safe" and "be careful". unfortunately i think there is such a thing as too safe and too careful. i think if you take all danger away you can rob a boy of his edge, his adventure, his masculinity. there is a place for emergency rooms, stitches and scars in the life of a boy.

my mantra for him has instead become "be wise". exercise some discernment, choose wisely, learn from your mistakes. sometimes that means letting him fall so he will develop the necessary neurological connections to learn not to do the same thing again. sometimes it means moving him away from the temptations he is so prone to. sometimes it means putting the chainsaw where he cannot reach it.