In the children’s book, “Do Kangaroos Wear Seatbelts” by Jane Kurtz, a little boy asks his mother a series of questions about different things she would do to keep him safe. If he were a baby kangaroo, he asks his mother if she would make him wear a seatbelt. Should he be a baby hippo, he wonders if his mom would hold his arm and guide him to the pool. The little boy even inquires if his mother would make him wear a helmet in case he took a tumble as a baby monkey. No matter the situation, the mother has a reassuring response about what she would do to make sure no harm ever came to him.

I loved that book. In elementary school, Dalton was able to meet the author when she was a guest speaker at Ewalt. The students from St. James had walked over there to hear her talk about what led to her career of being a writer of children’s books. Jane had been born in Oregon, but spent much of her childhood in Ethiopia climbing mountains, playing in waterfalls, and doing all sorts of outdoor activities. Jane’s family left Ethiopia in the 70’s, but the love of where she grew up stayed with her even after her college years. Now she travels the U.S. speaking to kids at schools about her experiences, often bringing items from Ethiopia for the children to touch, smell, and taste. That day she spoke to the students from Ewalt and St. James, Dalton was surprisingly engaged. He was always a kid of little words whenever I would pick him up from school, aside from “I beat everyone in Knock-Out today,” or “I need a cheeseburger and then take me to Papa’s.” Except that day. He told me several things he remembered Jane saying about her childhood and the fun things she would do. I think he liked relating to the fact that they were both very “outdoorsy” and enjoyed adventure. He pulled her book, “Do Kangaroos Wear Seatbelts” out and opened to the title page. “Look, mom. She wrote me a note. It says For Dalton – play! And then she autographed it.”

“For Dalton – play!” He loved that for some reason. I guess because that’s just what Dalton did. Sometimes a bit too much and in the wrong circumstances, but boy did he love to play. But, now when I look at that book, I feel like I somehow failed the role of the mother who is supposed to keep her baby boy safe. At the end of the book, the mother tells her son “And you, my son, as you climb and spin, as you wobble and balance and wiggle and swim… you’ll know I’m there to hold and hug, to keep you warm and safe and snug.” Those words radiate true for many of us parents. We all want to keep our kids safe from harm. It’s our role. I still struggle (3 years later) about what more could have been done that November day. Mistakes were certainly made on our parts. Instead of allowing Dalton to have his “fun,” we should have been yanking him out of that ranger for driving recklessly. I will beat myself up over that forever. But, more importantly than that, I wished we had taught him more thoroughly how to drive the ranger safely. We knew Colton and Keely were pretty good at driving the ranger, and somehow we overlooked teaching Dalton all the proper procedures for driving one. And, with Dalton being the most careless and wild of all three kids, we should have known way better.

Mistakes are made all the time. You learn from them. I have decided that we will do as much preventative care as possible to keep Dawsyn safe from harm. You can’t put them in a bubble, but you can sure teach them skills to use in dangerous situations. That is why we made the decision to put Dawsyn in ISR lessons at the Wichita Swim Club with Miss Emily. She started when she was a little over 10 months old. Oh man, did she have some lungs! I’m not sure how the students at The Independent School didn’t hear her. She was really ticked about learning to float. Though it was kind of hard to watch as her mother, I saw a much bigger picture in my mind. I saw a little girl who lives at a home where she has easy access to a swimming pool, hot tub, 4 ponds and a creek. I am the momma who is taking no chances. After 6.5 weeks, little Dawsyn took her summer clothes and winter clothes tests and rocked them both. I mean, she’s very good. In the spring, Miss Emily and her will work on the next level of ISR – which is learning to alternate floating  and swimming to find safety. Does this program guarantee 100% that your child will not drown after learning ISR? Of course not. But I’m committed to helping her learn the skills that very well may save her own life one day. Everyone knows accidents happen. Too many of us bereaved parents know that lesson a little too intimately.

So you had to figure this blog would come full circle eventually lol. And it has. I read “Do Kangaroos Wear Seatbelts?” to Dawsyn about 2-3 weeks ago and she loved it. Of course, anything with animals thrills her. Then I told her that it was DD’s book and I showed her his name written on the title page. Dawsyn knows exactly who Dalton is and we keep a picture of him on her bookshelf in her playroom. She started pointing at the picture and wanted to hold it all of a sudden. I handed it to her. She took my hand and guided me over to the carpet where she sat down with the picture. We propped DD’s picture up on the carpet so she could see him. But, apparently, that wasn’t good enough. Dawsyn grabbed the kangaroo book, plus a stack of others, and set them on the ground beside her. Next, I watched an 11 month old baby “pretend” to read to her older brother.

What a bittersweet sight.