Mama Amber: No adventure too dangerous for Andy!

I grew up with a highly anxious father. I was his only little girl and only child and he was pretty certain that at any moment I was going to either trip while holding something, impale myself and die, run into the street be hit by a car and die, or be kidnapped and die, maybe even go to sleep and die. These are all valid fears of a parent but he lived them to an extreme. I was very protected and coddled from any dangers this world may have. I often remember as a little girl that when my room got messy he didn't declare it a pigsty or messy, it was simply 'dangerous.'

I tried to go easy on my dear old dad growing up. As a teenager I don't think I was quite the risk taker as him (he once rolled around on stage with a tiger at the state fair and another time nearly drowned himself performing a magic trick in a pool and let's not mention that in his 30's he took off for a war in the middle east.) Even to this day I still try to ease his fears that the world is not going to gobble me up and I will die. Andrew, however....... well he has no respect for his 'Bumpa's" fears. Absolutely none. From the day he got here, nearly a month early while Bumpa and Nana were helplessly sitting on a cruise boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, he has terrified and concerned his loved ones. He spent 9 days in the NICU being poked and prodded with needles, i.v's, heart monitors. Finally, when he decided to let us breathe easy by coming home from the NICU it was short lived by an all too remember able trip up to Primary Children's Hospital where we learned he was a heart warrior. Worry, stress, fear and unpredictability were all going to be the norm with this kid. I thought my dad was going to die right then and there. To be honest, sometimes I nearly have.

Andy doesn't realize what he does to his Bumpa's blood pressure. He hap-hazardly takes on the world. And when he plays he plays hard. He's a little boy and boys are just crazy. My dad only experienced a little girl. Andy is quite certain that he is invincible and that whatever looks fun to do he should try. While I've struggled myself to allow him freedom to explore I am amazed that at this point his Bumpa isn't sitting in a rubber room with a bib around his neck to catch his spittle.

Andy figured Bumpa would LOVE to see him monkey around at McDonald's play place. A 20 foot swirly slide and endless feet of tube to crawl in where a boogie man or germ could catch him at any turn. My dad really just needed to take a Klonapin the entire time we were there. It was scarier to him than watching Freddy Krueger. Matthew and I kept promising that even though Andy had gone to the top he wouldn't go down the slide. It just seemed like something he'd want one of us there to help him with. As we were calling out to Andy who was suspending somewhere in a plastic tube 20 feet above our heads we heard a screech going down the slide and guess who pops out? Andy!!! He had a toy in his hands and we think he was trying to get it when he fell down the slide just like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. He also had a bewildered look on his face when he popped out of the slide like he was thinking 'what just happened!!??" He LOVED the slide and did it 3 more times. Bumpa was a mess.

Since that time I have taken him to the play place 3 more times. One time he got to the top and refused to come down. I had to crawl up and get him. I'm a big girl AND 6 months pregnant, it was not a pretty show. Another time some really nice children helped him down the slide when he thought he was stuck.

All I can say is that the kid is a dare devil!!! It's scares me to think of what shenanigans he will pull as a teenager. All I can say to my son is, "Andy, please be kind to your Grandpa."