We spent a good portion of Saturday visiting local nurseries (we’re hunting for some trees and flowers for our backyard), and I happened to trip over a stick and stumble forward while carrying Zoe through one of them. I quickly caught myself and kept walking, and I would have thought nothing of it had Zoe not had such a strong reaction. I must have made a funny face when I lurched forward, because she started giggling… and wouldn’t stop. She seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the world – and I, of course, had to do several reenactments, which only made me her laugh harder.

Later that day, I couldn’t help but reflect upon Zoe’s reaction to my stumble. Instead of getting scared or flustered (which she easily could have – since she was in my arms), she found the humor in the situation and just laughed. She really wasn’t fazed or upset at all, and it occured to me how much happier we would all be if we reacted to life’s little (or big!) stumbles in the same way. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I felt like Zoe gave me a little life-lesson (the first of many, probably) – and I’m hoping I can remember her giggles the next time I encounter one of life’s unpleasantries.

-M

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm and is filed under 18.Fifteen to 16 months. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.