Flying Babies....

Wow....I don't know that I've ever seen a news story that actually made me shriek out loud. That changed today.

I think it's kind of funny and ironic that this story was released today since my son decided to try to fly off the bed at 4:12am. He failed, of course, and landed with a thump on his dad (no worries, he's got a bad back and the floor is a more comfortable place at times), but we're talking of a height of about 2 1/2 feet. Scary, sure! Especially when you're sound asleep. But what if it were 50 feet?

In India there is a 500-year ritual in which babies are tossed off the tower of their shrine. Tossed 50 feet down to a waiting sheet held by a number of men, where they are safely caught. It is supposed to bring good luck, health, and courage to the baby for their lifetime. I guess it works...otherwise, why would the Hindu and Muslim followers who've been blessed in this temple still be doing it? And they DO claim no child has ever been hurt. They're certainly braver than I am, especially when it comes to my beautiful child! No word on whether Michael Jackson will try to join in on the next tossing ceremony...
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314661,00.html?f=rss

Luke does plenty of things to scare the daylights out of me. He is scared of clowns and gets freaked out when a pony sneezes on me (it's funny when they sneeze on him...go figure), but otherwise takes delight in me going white as a sheet over some activity that he thinks is just his size. I'm just glad he's a typical boy who does it on his own. He's obviously already full of courage. I can't imagine purposely tossing him off a 50 foot tower hoping some group of men will catch him in a sheet! I think we'll stick to the occasional 30 inch fall in the middle of the night....