My guest blogger today is my co-editor, Cheryl Clemens:

Deer have always been a common site in and around our wooded backyard. But this summer a doe and twin fawns have decided to pay us morning visits, and our whole family races from window to window to follow them as they wander the yard, chase each other and eat leaves (and an occasional hosta).

What has struck me, though, is the very different way each fawn behaves and how much it often mirrors the actions of my own children.

One fawn is a real risk taker. No matter where his mother is on our property, this fawn always pushes the envelop to see how close to the road he can get before Mom notices. You can watch him inch toward the front of the house, periodically glancing back to see if his mother is paying attention. And when Mom finally does twitch her tail and take a step toward him, he runs right back to her. All that’s missing is him saying, “I wasn’t doing anything, really!”

On the other hand, fawn #2 stays right by Mom’s side. He never strays more than a foot or two away and whatever Mom is doing, he is doing. If Mom is pulling leaves off bushes, so is he. If Mom is standing still listening, so is he. When Mom walks to another side of the yard, fawn #2 is glued to her side.

Now, I’m no Jane Goodall, but it isn’t difficult to figure out the dynamic here.

“I guess it’s just human nature,” I found myself thinking, only to realize only half of the equation here is human. So I guess it’s just nature, plain and simple. Whether you are a child or a fawn, you’re still going to test your mother and do what you can to step up to and over your boundaries.

And let’s not forget snaps for the doe. Raising twins has got to be hard — particularly when a stop on your morning food outing is my scraggly yard. It makes parting with the hostas a little easier.