Day 153 – Bravery

Bravery is not one of my strong suits.  Turns out though, that the apple can fall far from the tree.

On the weekend, we went to a birthday party.  Jaia’s little buddy turned 4.  The theme was ‘animals’ and the entertainment included a visit from Little Ray’s Reptiles.  The kids were ecstatic.  The adults, mostly less so.  We get creeped out way easier than our littles.

Snakes and lizards don’t phase me.  I basically grew up with them.  My uncle Dave always had pythons and boas at his place and they were often out of their cages and around his shoulders.  He also had a handful of lizards, including 6 foot iguanas that had their own room in the house.   All were just pets.

But I drew the line at his tarantulas.  No way, not cool.

On Saturday, Little Ray began to presentation with an awesome big ole iguana.  The kids were a bit weirded out at first and only a few wanted to pet him.  The Black Rat Snake was a bit more popular.  Most of the kids thought he was cool looking and wanted to hold him.

I’m not sure if it was watching the older girls or if she just really wanted to check ’em out, but she suddenly wanted in:

Then came the frog:

And the scorpion.  Yes, I’m serious.

I couldn’t believe how brave she was.  I never expected it.  Even some of the adults approached me saying they couldn’t believe she was only 3.  And nothing would stop her.  No matter how creepy the critter, my girl just wasn’t afraid.

I sat beside her the whole time but I drew the line at the tarantula.  No way, not cool.

Jaia disagreed.  She wanted to hold him.  And rather than running and hiding like I wanted to do, I stepped away, pretending I could get a better picture from a different angle.  Truth was, I was PETRIFIED.  I don’t care that tarantula venom has never killed a human being (as per Little Ray), I wanted nothing to do with it.  But I never let on.  Why should Jaia believe there’s something to be afraid of just because her mom is afraid?  and by afraid, I mean PETRIFIED.

So out came her hand…

and on it crept…

I still get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.  Having the pictures don’t help.  What didn’t give me the heebie jeebies was this little dude:

and Kyler and jaia agreed.  The last couple of reptiles were also awesome.  An enormous albino python and a sweet land turtle that had them all oohing and ahhing.

This was the greatest little kid party I’ve ever been to.  It was brilliant.  The kids were amazed.  And my little bean loved every second.  I’d like to say that I’ll throw a party like this when my own little guy turns 4, but I may have to have one for my brave, brave little lady long before that.