
I don’t want to mislead: my goal in this world is to help my kids grow, be confident and succeed. I want them to reach for the stars, be amazed at who they can be, and laugh in the face of fear.
But the stars are awfully high up there and it is scary as hell watching them climb knowing they could fall…
and that it is a certainty that sometimes they will.
I won’t say my parents encouraged me to climb; I was half monkey and they could not keep me out of the tops of trees or off of the roof or stop me from endangering myself in a 1000 different ways. At that point in my life I could climb higher than they could reach, and I felt powerful and cunning and brave.
Actually I wish I could channel those feelings sometimes these days. It is different being on the other side of that equation: watching your little ones challenge themselves and problem solve and climb bars over your head and beyond your reach.
But I would not take this away from her for the world.
I will be there to catch. I will be there to comfort. I will be there to cheer and pray and hope and teach what I can where I can.
But the mountain is ultimately theirs and there are places I cannot follow.
Instead I will carry vast amounts of Tums, medical cards and my iPhone to capture it all. I am a terrified but immensely proud mommy and will cover my gray and hide my terror as best I can.
And she did NOT fall today – she OWNED those monkey bars!
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