>Bruiser Braves Salmon Run

>My two-year-old son, Bruiser, is turning out to be a complex mixture of boldness and fear.

In other words, he’s perfect.

Oh, I’m joking. However, I have to admit I was worried when at the age of one, he seemed always eager to first find the most dangerous object or activity in the room and then head for it with excitement.

I was afraid he’d turn into one of those preschool-aged boys who run out into traffic and constantly seem to seek out danger, and who are overly aggressive toward other children.

But while Bruiser is outgoing and friendly with others and a bold showman in front of a crowd, he also is beginning to show a healthy fear of potential danger. This hesitation was evident when we took the kids on an overnight trip to Holiday World in Indiana.

We started things off in one of several kiddie ride sections of the park. Bruiser sat patiently on a kid-sized carousel and rode stoically behind his sister on a tiny airplane that went around and around.

When it came time for a rocket ride that lifted up into the air, though, he balked. When I got on an adult-sized carousel with him, he chose a tiger to ride on, then clung to me for the duration of the ride. And in the fountains, where he and his sister played in their bathing suits, he walked about carefully, barely touching the jets of water.

He most enjoyed the small car and train rides that slowly went in circles. Anything that contained even the hint of danger was out.

And I was thrilled.

You have no idea how much I prize his budding cautiousness, particularly since it has not inhibited his social nature in any way. The kid is a ham who thinks twice about potentially dangerous situations.

SCORE.

I am hoping that this means he won’t be the idiot in high school who insists on standing on his friend’s running board and clinging to the luggage rack while the car careens through the parking lot.

Or the moron who blazes past us in between lanes on his motorcycle on the interstate, helmetless and shirtless.

Or the crazy dude who has to be the first to jump off a 15-foot overhang into the river.

I am rooting for him to be a class clown. Not a daredevil. Please, God, not a daredevil.

And so while we took our five-year-old daughter on several somewhat scary amusement park rides yesterday, this was my son’s biggest challenge- Salmon Run.

See how he did for yourself.

Yep. I think that’s enough for now.

This post originally appeared on Parents.com.