August 11, 2004 - Wednesday
There was a moment today that I just love. It was a simple moment of nothing more than a glance between Harry and me, but it was enough. I was up on the garage roof of the cottage with Harry's grandpa fixing a squirrel hole and Harry came outside along with Jeremy and his cousins Ben and Sam, with whom he had been playing.

"What's daddy doing? Daddy, what are you doing up there?" Then, looking at the ladder leaning against the garage, Harry asked, "Daddy, can I come up there?"
I didn't answer, but probably let on a slight grin and almost immediately Harry got a grin, too, and headed for the ladder. In that glance, Harry either read what I was thinking or sensed an opening and took advantage of it. Either way, I enjoyed thinking that Harry knew me well enough to understand.

The real reason I hesitated was not at all about whether Harry should try to come up. Indeed, I wanted him to try, even if it would be a little tenuous. After all, the garage roof was almost flat and Harry's always been more than able to self-regulate want he's comfortable trying. And, I think I've been pretty careful with Harry and ladders, teaching him how dangerous they can be while still letting him learn. But, Harry wasn't alone and I was trying to figure how to work it out with Harry and still keep fixing the squirrel hole if as many as four little boys wanted to come up. Fortunately, everything worked out fine. Harry climbed up the ladder, but didn't feel comfortable making the last, tricky step onto the roof, and that limited what would be available of any of the younger kids. In fact, Jeremy was the only one who even tried to climb the ladder.


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