The World is a Scary Place

The world is a scary place out there, although not for the reasons you may be thinking. First of all, there are loud jet planes that fly overhead. They make a cool sound, but when it catches you off guard, it sometimes makes a person jump. Then there is the tractor across the street, churning, churning, churning the dirt, and making a big growling sound as it goes. Then there are trains that occasionally pass by, nowhere close actually, but the strange sound drifts across the morning air, and a young mind doesn't know what to relate the sound to. He can see the planes and the tractor; we waved at the tractor and the driver as we walked past on our morning walk, but he's never seen a train - somehow he's always sleeping when we pass one. And then, there is the worst sound of all, the screeching of a bird as it glides from one tree in the yard to another. It is so loud! It is so close! And it's alive! I'm sitting on the ground weeding, enjoying the sounds around me, and the company which I'm keeping, but the bird again glides and screeches. Almost instantaneously I feel a warm, little head leaning on my back, burying itself within the comfort of someone familiar. I smile as I tell him reassuring words, and identify with words the sound that he hears. At this moment, there is nowhere else I would rather be. This is why I became a mom. It's moments like these that make all the frustration and laundry worth it. "It's okay, little man, you can lean on me for awhile. Soon you won't be afraid anymore, but until then, lean on your Mama and find comfort."(Picture archived from October 2008)