When Shane was a baby, he loved to be surprised.
Weird. A baby who wanted to be scared? Popping up and roaring was something that equated to a baby crying and screaming in my mind before Shane.
He used to get a kick out of it, though. It was one of the easiest ways to get him to smile!
One time, Carrie and I were at Christ Church visiting my family. Shane was probably a little over a year old. He was thoroughly enjoying exploring the stage in the worship center while I played with him. I crawled along the edge of the stage and jumped up!
Shane smiled and laughed, but the other little boy didn't.
My eyes tracked from Shane's smile to the little boy's shock. He started to cry a second later.
Shane kept smiling!
In my defense, the little boy was at least 10 feet away and to the left. I was surprised that he was surprised!
I was also proud of my fearless little monster!
That was then.
On Sunday, I found out things had changed.
Shane, Carrie and I were all in his room. My son had just woken up from his nap. Carrie and Shane were playing/reading books in his bed. I was on the floor next to the bed.
Shane knew I was on the ground, but out of sight. He had asked "Daddy go away?" so I hid. The boy kept sticking his feet over the edge of the bed, though. I'd reach up, grab them and say "Got your toes!"
There was a gap in our play, and Shane must have forgotten I was still in the room. A couple of minutes later, I heard him ask Carrie "Daddy walk?"
I took it as my cue to pop up.
Shane freaked.
He started bawling and thrashing. It took Carrie and I a couple of minutes to calm him down.
I felt sooooo guilty.
I tried to rationalize things out in my favor. "Shane knew I was there! I was just grabbing his toes!" and "Remember the story at Christ Church where Shane was giggling whenever I surprised him? The other little boy cried, but Shane loved it!"
The reality is: Shane does NOT like to be surprised anymore.
I've said it before: Whenever you think you know your child's routine, it's already changing.
Change is constant with the little ones. What works one days, fails the next, and it may work again two weeks later! Parenting can be like a constant pop quiz where the rules change as you take it. One day you're on the ball, and the next you're scratching your head and taking your best guess!
Side note: I spent way too much time trying to search through old blog posts. I wanted to find the Church story with Shane, but I couldn't! I've told it out loud several times, so I assumed I wrote a post on it.!
If I did, I couldn't find it.
I spent another long while poking around and trying to find my quote on how quick things change with parenting. Again, I couldn't find it! Maybe it's just something I've been saying out loud and I assumed I posted it. I don't like to be overly-redundant and repetitive (heh), so I try not to post the same thought too often. In this case, I must have never posted it for fear I was posting it all the time.
I guess not!
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