I’m a fairly modern kind of gal. For the most part, I enjoy the vast range of advancements we have achieved as human beings. I adore my TV and my computer as much as the next person. In relishing my modern day devices, however, I find it somewhat hard to reconcile the fact that we are, in all actuality, still just another animal.

Granted, we have set ourselves apart quite a bit from the likes of a bird or a bear or an alligator. Still, there is always something deep within us, remaining from our cave-dwelling days, that indicates that there is more to us than just an intellectual being. We are simple, primitive beings at our core, and nowhere does this seem to become more obvious than in our role as parents to our children.

I realized this most natural of phenomena recently as my child and I literally came face to face with mortal danger. My husband would beg to differ with the mortal danger part, as he laughed off what I still deem to be a quick-thinking, heroic act. I think he underestimates the impact a direct hit from a golf cart would have on stroller, even at ten miles per hour.

Truthfully, the act was not so quick-thinking or heroic; it was just maternal instinct at its’ best. Although I’m not sure of the science of it, there certainly didn’t seem like there was time to even think about the situation. By the time I realized that the sudden light in the darkness was a speeding golf cart inappropriately cornering the sidewalk immediately in front of us, I had already maneuvered my daughter swiftly out of harm’s way.

Even though, judging from my husband’s response, my reaction was a bit overstated, it is good to know that I have it in me. As much as we rely on expert advice to do right by our children at this point in time, it is refreshing when some good old-fashioned primal instinct shines through.

One thing I notice as an adult, that I missed as a child on trips to the zoo, is just how much the behavior of our animal friends sometimes mirrors our own. I may have noticed a little something here or there, but when I witness a parent-child gorilla interaction now that I have my own children, I feel like the mother or father gorilla and I could sit down and have a real conversation about the ups and downs of parenting.

I see the mother gorilla preening her child and feeding her child and holding her child, and I think, “Hey, that’s me!” I actually do have that inclination to pick foreign objects off of my child and lick my fingers to press down any unruly hair. Fortunately, with modern cleanliness, such primitive grooming measures are usually unnecessary. I am ready to step in if such an occasion should arise, however.

My favorite realization came upon seeing an adorable little baby gorilla cling to his mother’s back as the mother stood looking rather bothered with an “Oh, could I just get two minutes to myself?” look of annoyance. I feel your pain, my primate sister.

Perhaps my least favorite part of primal instinct is the amount that is reflected in my children. The separation anxiety and the sibling rivalry, while once understandably necessary for human survival, can now be an irritating evolutionary leftover. I often find myself feeling like that mother gorilla, wondering when my two minutes of peace will come.

Despite its occasional drawbacks, instinct is a wonderful thing. I have to say that the primordial function that causes my children to look at me like I’m their whole world and makes me feel the same way when I look at them, is worth all of the crying, clinging and even disgusting messy-hair-induced finger licking.

Shannon and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania. E-mail her at letters@toledofreepress.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Family Practice.
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