Dare Devil

I have to say that I've done some rather daring things in my life.  I wouldn't classify myself as a dare devil, but I haven't lacked for the gumption to go try something out, either.  Some would call it flat out moxie.  I can remember back when I was 7 or so:  it was my younger sister's birthday and we had gone to Disneyland (yes, there is only ONE Disneyland - it's in Anaheim) and we were watching Merlin and some kids try to pull the sword out of the stone.  Before I knew it, there were two men in jester costumes approaching my sister and I to see if we wanted to go pull it out.  My sister freaked out- I jumped at the opportunity.  I figured that if anyone was strong enough to pull that sword out, it would be me!  And so, before my parents even knew that I was gone, I was walking off with these two jesters up to see Merlin.  In fact, I think that they didn't know where I had gone until they saw me up with Merlin.

Anyway, I did pull the sword out of the stone and I was Queen for the Day.  WEEEE.  Never forget that.

And then there's another (few) times that I have driven in absolute blizzards from Eau Claire to Minneapolis, just because it was time to go home.  I've driven late nights from Itasca to Minneapolis (like at midnight to 3am) because I wanted to be home.

So, I haven't lacked for some craziness in my decisions.

But now that I'm a Mommy, I am finding that I have a rather conservative outlook on life.  It's supposed to rain and snow tonight and tomorrow and I won't venture out to a party that I want to go to because it means taking our daughter with us...and it's just too dangerous.

And I don't want my mother venturing out to parts undisclosed because of the snow, either.

So, what I wonder is:  is this change psychological or physiological?

If anyone has an research on this, I'd love to see it.