How do you draw the line between shielding your child from getting hurt and letting them learn so that they may grow and develop? Life's lessons on parents can be tough. I’m learning that and I don’t know who it’s harder on—my kids or me. My oldest son who’s going into seventh grade just tried out for football, but he ended up not making the team. On the inside, I went from anger wondering how on earth the coaches couldn’t see that I had the most talented child in the world to wanting to cry because it hurt so much to see his feelings get hurt! Naturally, he was disappointed, but he said something to me that left me at a loss for words. When I asked him how else he felt, he said just one word—satisfied. He said he felt good that he tried something he had never done before, worked very hard and saw an improvement by the end. I think that our babies are much stronger than we give them credit for and sometimes these lessons might be more for us as parents. There’s always next year and then maybe “we’ll” make the team.
Posted by: Heather Smart on Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Yes, I believe it is hard for a mother to draw lines. Our protectiive instincts are such that we feel we need to come to their aid. My son who had chronic fatigue for two years needed me then. Now he is recovering I need to step back and let him experience life. Like try outs for football and not worry about whether he can cope. We just need to have trust that they can decide for themselves. He is 12 now and this year he is much improved, still has his bad days but is coping very well. These are the important decisions of letting go that we need to make.