Growing Up ..How Far Will You Go?

The original plan for the late morning and afternoon had been for me and Sam to go for lunch at Kentucky Fried and then on to the swimming pool, but he woke up with a sore throat and a long time swimming didn’t seem wise.

So we went to the Jardin d’Acclimatation, and the ‘flying swings’ (‘Les Chaises’) were all that Sammy would talk about as he rode on the back of my bike. ‘The flying swings’ are like swings on very long, thin chains which are turned around on an immense carousel roundabout. As they turn they also go up and down. Last time he went, Vanessa came back saying that Sammy had been so scared that she had had to get them to stop the ride. And she told me that she and a friend agreed that it cannot possibly be strong enough to hold my weight (obviously the ‘new slimmer Tim’ is more in my imagination than in reality).

Our first stop was ‘Les Papillons d’Alice’, a children’s roller-coaster which had been Sam’s previous impossible challenge …where many a moment had been spent as he battled between the desire to go on, and the fear that he wouldn’t be able to do it (often in tears). But now ‘the Alice ride’ (as we call it), is old hat and we are moving on to new challenges.

I also had the same battle (with the Alice ride, and now with the ‘, but kind of feel that I should be able to manage this sort of thing. I’m sure that Sam can see I’m afraid (maybe that’s part of the fun for him), but I communicated it as giving him a chance to pull out if he wanted to. And then a second chance to walk away.

The ride was nothing like as frightening as it had looked – the acceleration is fairly gentle, and then there is a feeling like you are flying. We shut our eyes for a bit …and that made it more intense. He obviously enjoyed it, and so did I.

There was a determination in his attitude which made me proud as his dad. He is certainly growing up, and sees the gentle rides he used to live for as too babyish for him now. And I hope that this determination to overcome fear will grow as a useful life skill for him …though I fear it may take me to places where I’m not sure I want to go with him yet …maybe there’s something in it for me as well.