My youngest son, Nate [6], has always been somewhat fearful. Slow to take on physical challenges and once accomplishing a goal refusing to go again for fear of getting hurt. Getting him out the door to ride his bike or ski with me can be quite the undertaking, but once he is out he does have fun. Even getting him to take a hike that may have a challenge can be tough. I’ve recently became aware that he may be hyper-sensitive. That wraps ups some of the issues we can have. And hopefully will give me a path towards a successful life for him.

We took the opportunity given by a warm day to drive out the Badlands with his mother and older brother, Cole [19]. It was great to see Nate truly enjoy himself. There were moments but as I first made it about him and not me and addressed his fears properly the darkness quickly subsided. He climbed the notch trail ladder without encouragement, coming down was a bit of work to get him on it but with proper encouragement there were no tears and with his brother’s help he did it.