The Fear Conqueror

Last weekend, Ethan (ye of exceptional motor skills) mastered the art of climbing on top of our bed.  Ours is a bed with a side platform all round it, so all he needs to do is to climb onto the platform while holding onto the mattress, then hoist himself up onto the bed.  Ethan did that perfectly well and has been doing it most of the time when he is in our room.

Two nights ago, he was doing it again, but somehow he lost his grip and fell backwards flat on the back of his head.  He looked stunned for a moment, and then started to wail loudly!   I hugged and comforted him immediately of course, and naturally he would not let go of me after that.  But about 30 minutes later he was at it again, climbing up onto the bed in the usual manner.  After his shower that night, as he was about to sleep but still playfully sauntering around the room, he seemed to have forgotten his fall earlier, and tried to climb up and down our bed again.  But on one occasion, his hand missed the grip on the bed, and his body lurched to the left side of the bed, head first!  Thank goodness Pete was there to break his fall!  Our boy was of course shocked by this second incident and found comfort in Mommy’s arms again.

You would think these two incidents would deter him from climbing up our bed, right?  However, Ethan is a boy that chooses to deal with his fears head on: “Face my fears and I will fear no more!” – that’s his motto.  So he’s still at it now: climbing up, climbing down… well, sometimes when he remembers, he will reach out his arm for reassurance while climbing.  Hehehe….