What a difference a year makes!

My oldest son used to be completely scared of the vast space under our deck. You see, there were spiders there and though, unlikely myself, he could stand under the deck without fear of hitting his head on the beams above and play in the dirt, the knowledge of it being a spider haven precluded his venturing under there...ever. In fact, if his ball rolled just inside there last year, he would even reach in to get it! What a difference a year makes!
My wife and I added some dirt under there this spring to insure any water would flow away and not towards the foundation. That included raking up the leaves and debris from last year and also very sore backs for the two of us as the area is only about 4-1/2 feet high and both of us had to work hunched over. We were not suprised then when our fearless younger son, the 3-year old terror nicknamed "Urlacher," immediately laid claim to the dirt as his personal domain as it was all cleaned up and he had access! What we didn't expect was that he would be joined by his older brother. The boy who still won't go down the hall, let alone downstairs, at night if the lights are not already on; the boy who last summer scared even our neighbors with a blood-curdling scream in his playhouse (they suspected it was a snake) when he felt a spider web on his arm (he didn't even see the spider); the boy who for much of the summer last year insisted on being carried down the deck stairs to get to the backyard because he had one seen a spider under the stairs; is now the boy who plays under the deck. What a difference a year makes!
Now, as a parent, you learn the lesson that when a child overcomes a fear...there is both good and bad. The good news is he isn't afraid of the spiders, could careless really, and doesn't need to be carried to the backyard. Now for the bad news. He is so not afraid that he loves to play under the deck--meaning IN THE DIRT--which equates to dirt all over clothes, all over arms, legs, hands, faces, and especially hair! So just as the fear has been overcome...Daddy has now made the area under the deck off-limits! What a difference a year makes!