Parenting is always calculated risk-taking

When it comes to taking risks, I’ve concluded there are two kinds of children: Those who are risk-averse and those who join in the dance contest at the beach resort to win a T-shirt.

I realized this recently while on spring break. There I was, enjoying the late-afternoon sun, absorbing the relaxation transmitted through the jets in the hot tub, when my son (a non-risk-taker) called me urgently.

“Mom, come quick, Amy is dancing.”

Amy is an 8-year-old whose personal hero is Raven Symone, the hippest girl on the Disney channel. That Amy was dancing was not news — certainly not enough to get me out of the hot tub.

“What’s the big deal?” I asked, squinting up at him.

“Look,” he said, pointing toward the crowd at the far end of the pool patio.

That’s when I saw her — not just dancing, but shaking her “groove thang” for an audience of at least 50 people attending the resort’s complimentary cocktail party. Included in the festivities were games and contests, and Amy was the sole entrant in the dance competition.

Apparently, knowing she would win, she had decided to give the steel drummer a workout.

When the song ended and the rousing applause finally died down, I let Amy know how impressed I was that she had volunteered to dance.

“I was the only one who participated,” she said, somewhat disappointed.

“Some people just aren’t brave like you are,” I said.

That’s the truth.

I don’t know if a willingness to take risks is the result of nature or nurture. I suspect it has to do with birth order or some other child-development theory such as the length of labor and delivery, or perhaps the age when toilet training is complete.

Maybe it’s just a fluke of personality.

However it happens, I have two children who view the world as a fascinating place to be explored and exploited and two who would prefer it if life didn’t force them to speak with any person they have not already met.

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