Can you mourn a fictional character? A lot of people cried during the last episode of "M.A.S.H." and/or "Cheers" (cough-cough Grammy cough-cough). Does it matter if the actor playing the character is unaware that she is playing a part? Yarden has several alter egos: Upside-Down Baby, Naked Baby, Baby On-My-Head, Lumpy Couch, Snuggle Bunny, etc. But if she were a super hero her name would be Danger Baby - the Baby Without Fear. Ready to climb tall furniture in the turn of a back. Willing to leap off of changing tables whether or not the anyone is ready to catch her. Able to strip from the waist down and pee in the middle of Target in the time it takes to reach an item on the top shelf (true story).
I know fearlessness not an unusual trait in small children but it's one that really reminds me of my (younger) self and so I find it fascinating to the point that it doesn't occur to me until later "That could have turned out VERY differently." Then I think I must have the superpower of extra fast reflexes because I always manage to catch her. But if we are both super heroes then are we a team? Are we on opposite sides? Is she my sidekick, or am I hers? And how does Oso fit into all of this? And because I'm thinking this while cooking I usually drop a lemon or a knife on/near my foot and my fantasy disappears faster than The Flash.
But on to the point: I think Danger Baby has lost her supernatural powers. On Wednesday Yarden had managed to open the can of uncooked oatmeal and shoved a couple of handfuls in her mouth. I got the vacuum to clean her up she freaked out. I didn't think too much about it until the next morning. The street the daycare place is on can be a little busy and like every other parent with a two door car and I have to multitask getting my (fearless) child out along with her lunch and extra clothes while also keeping her from running away. Solution? Putting her on top of my car and that seemed like a good idea. It would keep her near me, away from speeding cars, and contained - right? Yes, but... when I came back out of the car with all of her stuff she was freaking out again. She didn't want to be up there, but she didn't want to jump off. She was panicked.
So what does a super hero do once she loses superpowers? Usually it's replaced with something new. In the running right now are yoga and gardening. Her after school caretaker has a roommate who will sometimes do yoga with her, but that may just be because she's offered bindi sticker dots to put on her forehead. Gardening is a natural fit since it involves playing with water and getting dirty. I just have to keep her from drinking from watering cans that contain fertilizer. I've heard that for small children it can cause them to mutate into half human, half plant creatures that don't eat bacon - essentially a Yankees' fan.
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