When my children were very young (a one year old daughter and a three year old son) we lived next door to a lovely family with a son, Phillip, who was also three years old. Naturally the boys played together, sometimes at our house, sometimes at theirs. My son was a very mellow child, while my red-haired daughter was not. In fact a dear friend told me at the time that I deserved my daughter because my son was such an easy going child. So imagine my surprise one day, when my son came home from playing next door, quietly laid down on the floor on his tummy and started softly hitting the floor with his fists while kicking the floor gently with his toes. "What are you doing?" I asked. "I'm having a temper tantrum." he replied. "Why?" "Because Phillip did it." "Oh, ok." I think he just wanted to see what it felt like. A couple of years later, when he was five, I watched him walk out the front door carrying a little suitcase. "Where are you going?" I asked. "I'm running away from home." "Why?' "Because Beaver did it and I want to see what it feels like." "Ok, but you mustn't cross the street." I watched him carefully as he walked down the sidewalk to the corner, then turned around, came back and took the suitcase up to his room." He was evidently satisfied with his experiment. Later I peeked into the suitcase to see what he had packed for running away from home. Only his teddy bear, I am happy to report that this desire to experiment has followed him through life and through several STEM related jobs. These days his most recent experiments involve research balloons that soar 80,000 feet into the sky carrying experimental pay loads. He is in his element.
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