I think the consensus that being calm is a good idea. How many times has anyone seen a child fall or crash into something and the kid looks stunned but doesn't cry. The kid is trying to get up and keep going when a parent comes from no where going "OH MY GAWD! AAAAGH! CALL 911! TIMMY FELL! OH OH OH!" or something similar to that. Then, like magic, the kid who was just stunned by the incident is screaming. I had a friends little boy visit and he wanted to meet our ferrets so bad. I was a little reluctant because I have a nipper. I always try to err on the side of caution. We finally relented and really cautioned him about Orion. He was careful with Orion and petted him and was really good. He picked up Venus and she grabbed him by the bicep and hung on for dear life! I was shocked. He just reached over and kissed her nose, which made her release and said, "Venus needs some dinner!" We all cracked up and he WATCHED Venus for the rest of the visit." (as a note, Venus turned out to be his favorite of my five. Go figure.) It's all in how you handle it and that's what teaches you kids how to handle it! April and the FuzzButts of fun! LUNA ORION VENUS EROS SOLA www.gallaty.com [Posted in FML issue 2979]