The Unbearable Braveness of Toddlers

I am forever grateful that Harry is cautious little soul - he didn't walk until he *knew* he could, he never climbed the stairs when little (or, on that note, the sofas, tables or bookcases). I could always leave him to nip upstairs or to the loo without too much worry of the mischief he would get up to.

There were times when I worried a little about this (I mean, it's the mother's prerogative to worry about even the good things, right?)- what if he grew up to be over-cautious, what if he never wanted to do anything exciting - what if he was a wimp?! But most of the time I recognised his caution for the blessing it was, and thanked my lucky stars.

Now he is a little older and getting a little braver - this has its pay offs - he is no longer permanently attached to my side when out and about, and his new found experimentation has seen him even trying new foods he would never have touched before. But, oh my god, I have never felt so terrified in all my life! I never wanted to be a 'helicopter parent', and always felt quite smug that I'd avoided that particular parenting sin - making sure I never rushed over when he fell over and bumped, so proud of my big boy bouncing straight back up. However, I fear that I have recently recognised that as much as I tried to disguise it, helicopter is probably my default.

I first started to realise my failings when out and about with Harry's little buddy from the childminder, P. Now, P is a few months older than Harry and a bit bigger so he ran over to the big slide and up the ladder. The ladder that is way too big for Harry (which I am kind of glad of because it leads to a platform 6ft up in the air with two sheer drops). Of course, Harry comes over whinging for help - unfotunately for him me and P's mum both have a feeding baby attached. This happens 3 or 4 times 'Mummy, HELP me!' and then all goes quiet. I assume he has gone to play on something else. Until my heart skips a veat (well, probably several) as I look up and see him on the ruddy platform! Waving! With a great big smile on his face! The first thing he does after whizzing down the slide is rush over saying 'Yay, did it Mummy!' and of course I feel so proud of his determination, but also a little wrench in my heart every time I see him up there willing him to be careful. Meanwhile P's mum calmly chats, seemingly unperturbed by the peril they are putting themselves in.

Since then, I've tried really hard to relax a bit and let him get on with the dangerous life of being a toddler, but I nearly reached my limit the other day at the park. We go to this park because there is a great climbing frame with fast slides that is perfectly suited to little ones his age. Apart from this one terrifying bridge thing that last time he went on I literally only managed to avoid a head-meets-floor incident by grabbing his ankles (in my defence I was heavily pregnant!) One of his little friends happens to be there - great I thought - time to sit back and enjoy a mummy chat. Oh no, no, no. How wrong was I - the next minute we look up and... no they are not on the scary bridge thing. They are at the other end of the bloody park on the big kids climbing frame! Climbing up a ladder that goes vertically and then horizontally up to a platform at least 8 ft high! Each of gaps between the rungs would easily fit one of our little cherubs and send them hurtling to their doom. Hearts in our mouths we race over, between us managing one mum at the top and one at the bottom, ready to catch. You know what? Neither of them so much as slipped! They climbed up there at least 10 times each without so much as a shake. I tried it just once and was nearly rendered incapable of movement halfway up.

I was really proud, no doubt about it - my heli-blades were whirring at the speed of light, but I was proud. Needless to say we soon ushered them back to the other play area - and for some reason, that terrifying bridge didn't seem so bad any more. I let him get on with it whilst standing at least an arm's reach away!

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

Today we visited Noah's Ark Zoo Farm for my birthday treat. We were lucky enough to be given tickets by Ian's work colleague who got them from an internet deal so it was a cheap day out for us! If we'd been paying, Ian and I would have been £12.50 each and Harry £9.50, which I do think is a little steep for a 2 year old.

The farm is run by creationists, which has always put me off going in the past (and I did consider buying Harry one of those 'evolution' t shirts for the occasion!) but seeing as we had the tickets as a gift I thought we'd give it a go. They have a huge variety of animals at the farm from the largest - the rhinos, to the liveliest - the gibbons and the smallest - tiny little chicks. The farm covers a vast area which is equally great for the animals and a little tiring for small legs.

When we arrived we headed straight to one of the main draws, the big cats. They have Bengal Tigers and also some lions. They were fast asleep both times we visited, but you were certainly able to get up close and personal with them - the paws of the tiger seemed massive just a few feet away separated only by a pane of glass. It was good for Harry to be able to get so close, as there was no need to try to point out the animals from miles off. Their enclosure is pretty large though so I guess if you went at a more active time you might not be able to get quite so close.

Another major draw was the giraffes, and once again we got nice and close to them - they truly are very beautiful and graceful creatures! If they are inside you can go into the giraffe house and walk around a walkway level with their heads - they were out enjoying the sun today, but I thought this was a great idea. Harry loved the giraffes - although he was a bit concerned. The mummy and daddy had a 'baby' giraffe like Archie, but he couldn't see a 'Harry' giraffe!

When it was nearing time for lunch, and Archie was asking for a feed (or should I say demanding), we camped down by one of the play areas. There was a 'termite mound' play area with tunnels and slides and also a combine harvester climbing frame which was a big hit with our vehicle mad toddler! Unfortunately, under the termite mound in a little house Harry had a rather unfortunate accident with a muddy puddle and came out completely covered - and rather distraught as he had been studiously trying to avoid mess the whole time he was playing. Luckily, I had read on the website that they have a splash zone so had a clean change of clothes in the car to solve the problem.

Although full of 'zoo' animals, there is a definite 'farm' feel. The location is in the midst of rural fields (when we were trying to point our the reindeer to Harry, he spotted a distant John Deere tractor in a field *sigh*) and there are regular tractor rides throughout the day for an additional cost. This was a big hit with Harry who tells me his favourite part of the day was the tractor he climbed on on the way out!

All in all we had a great time, although the price would have been a bit steep for us for half a day (we are a little constricted by nap time as Harry got tired in the early afternoon - and it doesn't open until 10.30). For older kids there is a lot more to do though, a massive play area inside and out - with zipwires, deathslides and so on - as well as a barn where you can swing on ropes hung from the rafters and have a soft landing in piles of straw. We also found that the walk twice around the animals (to see if the big cats had woken up) was a little far for Harry's legs, so he was certainly tired by the end of the day. I think, therefore, it's more an attraction for those with older ones who can use more of the facilities - it would be a good idea for the attraction to either not charge for under 5s or at least have two different price points for kids that reflects the amount they can participate.