A Bear in a Bush...

Bear was pretty fearless when he was growing up. He had all the "Snips and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails" any boy could wish for. His verve for life was admirable if not exhausting at times.
At one point we lived in a townhouse and the bedrooms were up stairs. One of the bedrooms upstairs had a balcony and of course I didn't want him to have this room because I knew he would be out the door and climbing down that balcony. But that didn't stop him.

My office was right across the street from where we lived so after school Bear would ride the bus and then go home. He was suppose to stay in the house until I got off 2 hours later. Yeah right!
I got a call one day from the landlady telling me Bear was jumping off the balcony into the bushes below and running back into the house and doing over and over. Just one of the many times I was shaking my head wondering what in the hell he was thinking.

When I got home the bush was pretty much trashed and I was wanting to string him up. I asked him:

Me: What were you thinking? Do you know you could have broken a leg or arm or worse your neck?

Bear: Yep! But I didn't!

Me: How are we going to pay for the bush?

Bear: I dunno!

Me: Why? (at this point I was just at a loss)

Bear: Cause it was fun! We all were doing it!

Me: So just because everyone else was jumping off the balcony means you had to?(You know the old adage)

Bear: No! Everyone else was doing it because I did!