October 15, 2016

Dear Baby,

Today was your cousin’s birthday party and we celebrated at a place called “Pawsitivly Pets” where they have all these pets that they introduce to the kids and let them pet. 

Based on your reaction to the farm we took you to this summer, we didn’t have high hopes for you. 

We assumed that you would be true to you “scared of anything with eyes” (except, wonderously, your 60 pound beast of a dog.)

To our delight you seem to have overcome that fear. You pet the bunny, the lizard and the snake they presented to you without any trepidation. Then you came home and willingly played with your puppet. Huzzah!

I was so proud of you. 

I totally get being scared of shit. I’m scared of basically everything that is a bug and most things that fly including but not limited to butterflies. Fear is a very real and very (ironically?) scary emotion. But we are only growing and changing when we can face fears and overcome obstacles. 

I mean, I might be reading too much into it since you are a baby still but it seemed like your curiosity got thenbetter of fear and allowed you to try something that made you nervous. 

And sure, it would have been ideal if you didn’t pet a snake and then immediately stick your thumb in your mouth but big steps call for a little self soothing so you go ahead and eat that snake residue. No biggie.

And I think that I can leave you with this: I hope that you will always stand in the face of your fears as you did today with those pets. No matter how scary something can be, the best thing you can ever do is try- just try- to reach out and give it a little tap (I DON’T MEAN THAT LITERALLY. DO NOT TAP THINGS THAT SCARE YOU.)

But do try and face your fears and always look to be testing your limits. 

It’s a cool thing to watch. Trust me. 

Love you my little snakey girl. 

xo

Mom