Grandchildren are fearless while playing

The caption read, “These boys are going to give me a heart attack!” The video was of two small boys playing on a playset. Sounds ordinary, doesn’t it? Except they were on the very top of the thing, holding on to a handy tree branch for balance.
Watching them scramble up and down the uprights made me question whether or not my daughter had given birth to monkeys instead of children. Then I remembered all the times I had climbed into our haymow without the benefit of a ladder. I guess children haven’t changed so much after all.
Someday they will look back on these pictures and wonder how they were ever so strong, agile and fearless. Then again, isn’t strong, agile and fearless synonymous with childhood? If it isn’t, it should be.
There are other pictures. One is of three kids on a fallen log. The log spans the “100-foot drop” over a dried-up creek. This one reminds me of a tree that had fallen across Twin Creek long after I had left home.
My brothers are a lot younger than I and were about the age my granddaughter is now. I was home for a visit and we all went down to the field. We walked down the wide tractor path to the creek and I remarked at how different it seemed now that the cows were gone. We went past the wobbly rocks we usually used to get to the other side. A short way past the hole that used to hide a passel of snakes, I saw the tree.
It had been a large tree at one time. My brothers ran back and forth across the fallen trunk in an attempt to reassure me that it was perfectly safe. My daughter, who was a preschooler at the time, walked gingerly at first. One of my brothers held her hand until she gained her confidence. I finally made it across but don’t remember if I scooted or walked.
The water was only a few feet deep so it wouldn’t have mattered if I had fallen in. We made enough noise so that any snakes around wouldn’t bother us. I seem to remember that we crossed on the rocks on the way back.
Childhood is almost always more innocent then adulthood. Leave it to the grownups to build walls to keep people out. If you watch children, they will extend a hand to anyone. Stranded on top of a playset? Leave it to a brother to help you down. Scared to cross a bridge? A child is ready to offer encouragement and help, if needed.
When does it change? I watch my grandkids. I watch the children playing in the park when I take my walk. They are always ready and willing to include others in their play. Then I listen to the news. Politicians vow to build a wall to keep people out. Other countries are overwhelmed by hoards of people fleeing the horrors of their own nations and take drastic measures to exclude them. What has happened to compassion?
I confess, I find it irritating to press 1 for English. I also find it irritating that my calls may be recorded. I am baffled when an employee of a big box store in another state doesn’t speak English. I get frustrated when I am dealing with a technical issue and the person who holds the answer to my question struggles to make me understand despite his strong accent.
On the other hand, this country is made up of immigrants. Even the American Indians came from somewhere else. Let me repeat that - we are all from somewhere else. If someone had built a wall around this land, none of us would be here. Not me, not you, none of us would be here.
So what does all this have to do with little boys climbing? We seek to exclude others because of fear. We are afraid of those who are different. We are afraid of the drain on our resources. We are afraid of so many things. Those two little boys aren’t afraid.
Children have no fear. They will climb anything they can. They will include anyone around. They understand that the more people you have around you, the more likely it is that they will catch you when you fall. They have faith that no matter how dangerous something may be, it is always worth it to try.