Now, the first tough thing I taught my son, has completely backfired. Danielle taught Noah that when she says "Lay your head down" he will do exactly that on her shoulder very sweet like. Danielle thought this moment was so adorable she would say "Awww..." when he would lay his head down on her and he began to repeat this as well. (Isn't the point of having kids in the first place to teach them cool tricks?)
Well, the other day, I was playing with Noah on the floor and I said "Down....Set..." and before I got to "Hut" and could tackle him, he comes over, lays his head down on my lap and says "Awww". Apparently he has connect the word "Down" with being sweet instead of tough.
Now, as adorableof a moment as this was, it's also slightly devastating for me. It has practically given me nightmares about him being on a football field sometime in life and trying to hug his opponents at the snap of the ball instead of crushing them under his brut strength.
I suppose most parents go through this process at some point. The dad try's to toughen the boy up into a man while the mother soaks up every sweet, adorable moment she can from her little boy. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to raise a hard hearted, bully. I can't help to want to teach him to stand up for himself and to nurture and grow his since of adventure. Whether that comes in the form of sports, hiking, pretending to be a pirate on the high seas, facing a problem head on, or talking to a girl.
I pray that I will teach him to be dangerous, be tough, take risks, and love people all at the same time.
