The Sense God Gave a Flea

What happened to common sense? I was reading someone else's blog and the article was about teaching kids safety (http://whatkidsneedtosucceed.wordpress.com) and the issue was whether it is safety or fear that we are teaching. Great concept, spawing many ideas. And there was a comment that was aggressive but didn't really disagree with the author's point of view that we should try not to make our kids scared of their own shadows. I agree. And there are a lot of bogeymen in the world, I know, I represented a lot of them. But whatever happened to common sense. Don't run with sharp sticks if you fall it will hurt. It will hurt if you run and fall no matter what, and that would be ok, its the addition of the sharp stick that makes it a non-starter on the common sense front. I know that I have probably caused my child to be too cautious and that is a shame. I believe that some risk is required to live a full and fulfilled life. If you give your heart you won't know love, or the pain of having it broken; just try to see truthfully who you are loving. If you don't venture into other people's cultures you won't see the richness and beauty of sharing that experience, or possibly experience the painful prejudice of being the outsider; just don't go where you might be shot for it. If you don't go out in the rainstorm you won't see the beauty of the lightning, although you may be struck by it; just don't hold up a golf club. This is hoping he has the "sense God gave a flea." You get the idea. How many times have I said "you don't have the sense God gave a flea"? I want him to have that, and more, but not too much. I want my child to have the most wonderful life filled with every kind of experience and yet, to to that, he will have to take risks that frighten me. I will just have to have faith that luck, God and common sense will shield him from the worst the world has to offer. For the bad he must suffer; just make it survivable.