Her grandmother has taught her that snakes and alligators and dogs and rambunctious ******** and God knows what else are things to fear. Things that can knock her down are things to fear. Rough housing is frowned upon, because after all, my ******** is delicate, and handicapped to boot. She could get hurt.
I will not allow my ******** to learn fear.
And so we sit and drift with the current, and I point out to her that snakes and alligators are to be respected and given their distance, but not feared. Strange dogs should be given their distance too, until you know their intentions, but not feared. If a rambunctious or rude ***** knocks her down, we go play with someone else. But we do not fear them.
And as we get closer, the alligator swims away, just like I told her it would. "Because it's more afraid of us," I explain.
And on another stretch of beach, we bury our toes in the sand and have a picnic. We eat fruit cups and ham sandwiches and her favorite, peanut butter and cheese crackers.
I toss a few crumbs into the water, and KatyBeth watches in fascination as the bream swarm from the deeper waters and devour the remnants of a cracker.
I coax her to hold one under the water, and the bream swarm around us like piranhas, eating a peanut butter and cheese cracker right out of her hand. She giggles and squirms as the bolder ones nibble at her feet and legs.
It's days like this on the river that I live for; a chance to teach my *** what every *** should learn in *********. Life's little lessons that she misses out on, because everyone insists on treating her like a China doll.
Puppy teeth are sharp, but puppy slobber possesses magical healing properties.
Trees are a joy to climb, even if it means falling out of them occasionally.
Mud pies are fun to make, but not edible. But go ahead and taste it if you must, Little Miss Hard Head.
Snakes and lizards and alligators are cool, when viewed from a distance.
The outdoors offer a world of wonders to explore, but pack your skeeter repellent and sunscreen.
Peanut butter and cheese crackers are even tastier when you eat them on a beach in the middle of nowhere, and share the leftovers with a school of hungry fish.
Pain only lasts a little while, and bruises fade, but regret lasts a lifetime.
She doesn't look it, but my ******** is much tougher than people realize. She's much tougher than she realizes, and that's what I try to show her. My ******** is the toughest person I know.
