Is this what I think it is...?

"Is this what I think it is?"

Looking up I see my ‘baby’ boy, now a grown man, holding ‘the leash’.

Now mind you, it is not really a leash, it is a harness.

A baby blue set of straps attached to a long cord, 

with a teddy bear on the front.

Cute, but, a harness nonetheless; 

one that his siblings still tease him about to this day.

Seeing this item from oh, so, long ago reminded me of the number of times through the years that I have had to eat my words

or eat crow as we say in the South.

This one obscure item taught me a lot about grace, humility, and judgment,

while

hacking away at my self-importance and pride.

I remember seeing poor, beleaguered parents being dragged about by their boisterous toddlers with just such a harness. 

I can also remember smugly looking at my husband to say, 

“I would never…. 

That is inhumane… 

I cannot believe…” 

and a list of other superior, conceited comments.

That is before Ian arrived –

Bless him,

Ian - my most exuberant child,

#5 of 6.

Whoa Nelly, as a friend of mine likes to say, he about undid me.

So, I laugh in response to his question, “Yes, it is”. 

My son remembers a ‘leash’;

alternately,

 I recall a harness that probably saved his life a time or 2 or 10.

And more importantly,

a lesson that tamed my oft-times, conceited spirit.

And with that said, 

I laugh again and mutter back to him,

"Now put that thing back in the attic; it’s important...”