The Stairs

Stairs are things that always lead you somewhere.  In theory, you are either ascending or descending to a different place than you previously were.  Kaia loves climbing the steps.  It is a skill that her older brother Austin taught her some months ago that she has now perfected into a little game.  With each day that passes, she gets bolder and bolder in her attempts to conquer the 14 steps in our house.  At first my heart would pound as she manipulated her body onto each step.  I was scolded ( and rightfully so) for not letting her try.  Now it is a daily challenge for her to make it all the way to the top without any help.  What I didn’t realize then, that I do know now is this… 

 To me I see the steps as a hazard, a potential accident waiting to happen.  Being the over protective parent hat I am, it is important for me to recognize that there are certain risk are going to taken from time to time in order for growth to occur.  For what ever reason she has chosen, Kaia finds it interesting to climb to the top of the steps.  With each step she conquers, she looks back at me at the bottom with a smile saying, “Look daddy, I can do it”.  I hope she never loses that spirit, I hope she has that drive her entire life to prove me wrong in the shadow of my fear.

Their have been times in my life when I have step out in faith and against the wishes of those around me.  My mother never wanted me to go to Kansas as she thought it was so far away.  As I stood on the drum major podium directing the band in Lawrence, I smiled at her.  I am sure she felt the same way then as I do now at the bottom of the steps.  No words were spoken, but the conversation was the same.

If I told you that Kaia is an expert stair climber now you might report me to DCF… please know that I am never more than a couple steps behind her, but at 11 months, I can honestly say my fear of the stairs is gone… in retrospect… I was the only one who had a fear to begin with.  Needless to say, I am starting to recognize how special a child I have been blessed with, it would seem the one who is going to need help up and down the stairs of life with her, is me.