Please do not pet the animals; diseases can be transmitted.
This sign refers to the belted cows, goats and chickens penned around Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, but it comes to mind whenever I see a runny-nosed toddler. Diseases can be transmitted.
I’m not blaming them. Most kids attend a Petri dish, more commonly known as preschool. They are taught that sharing is caring, but they need no instruction to pass bacteria back and forth. There’s not much anyone can do about it. Little kids are adorable, yes; also, very leaky.
What else do we catch from each other?
My friend Karen Howard, chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, told me about her granddaughter. This toddler knows a handful of words, including “higher,” as in, pick me up and throw me higher! The child trusts her grandmother to catch her.
I bet Karen’s granddaughter also knows the word again: “Again, higher!” In my experience, a child’s enthusiasm exceeds a caregiver’s strength. After a few tosses, your arms are shaky and your back hurts. But your kid’s squealing, “Higher! Again, higher!” So, you keep it up. Even if, as the case with Karen’s ex-husband, you have terminal stage-4 cancer. You summon all your mortal strength for higher and higher because the child keeps laughing. And drooling on you! You don’t care. This life is fleeting, whether we know it or not. You are laughing, joy is contagious. And in the end, what else are we here for?
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of “Little Big Moments,” a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and “Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems.” Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.
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