hazards

As we anticipate traveling to the UK in just a few weeks (!) and then on to the USA, I've begun to realize what a big change this will be for Elijah!  How many new experiences he will have, as a toddler -- experiences he never had as a non-mobile infant   Here at the College it is easy to feel like there are many dangers.  I keep a close eye on Elijah.  In and around our house we frequently have scorpions and poisonous centipedes.  We are training Elijah to identify these "creepy crawlies" and how to smash them with a shoe!  There are also lots of snakes around and we have to always be on our guard.  Yesterday morning I went out our front gate to shoo away a stray goat which our dogs were barking at, and there was a snake just outside our gate!  It was so close to me and I never even saw it.  I am so thankful that it decided to run rather than bite.  Based on the size, speed, and behavior it exhibited, I am sure that it was a black mamba, upwards of 3 feet long.  And then there are not-so-deadly but still nasty little pests, like the bees that are everywhere in our garden, and hornets. This morning Elijah was stung twice on the hand!

But then I have started to think about how I must prepare my son for the hazards of the Western world!  Like gas radiators and fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves.  (Thankfully, he already knows and responds to the word "Hot!")  Like stairs (he's never met a 2-story house since he became mobile!).  Like busy streets.  Here at the College, we might drive to town once a week, at MOST!  We live at the end of a very long driveway (4-5 miles long?) and the only traffic coming to the College is our colleagues, so Elijah hasn't really seen more than one vehicle at a time since we moved here.  We will have to teach him how to live safely in a house that doesn't have a fenced and gated compound.

I've just been thinking that it's funny how some people assume that since we're living in Africa, there are more dangers.  But there actually aren't.  They are just different dangers.  And the key is to be aware and to train your children, while they are young!, to recognize and avoid the dangers.  It will be an interesting 4 months in a cold climate full of strange and new experiences for my curious toddler.  The hazards will be there, but so will be the fun!