Monday, October 01, 2007

Up!


One thing I really love about football season is that it gives me an opportunity to spend time with my two youngest kids while the two older ones are at practice. Friday was a beautiful day, and the boys were going to go to the high school game after practice, so I took a rare opportunity to take the little ones out for dinner and some playground time. It was a lot of fun! It's not very often that I get time alone with any of the kids, so it's always nice when they get some undivided attention. It's nice for me, too, to get to connect with them one on one (or two on one, like Friday) and really get to enjoy being with them without having my attention scattered across a larger group.

Jonathan is growing up so fast! Just yesterday he was so tiny, and now he's running around the playground like his older sister. There wasn't a single part of the playground that he didn't at least try to tackle on his own. When I would try to help him, he would look at me with a stern face and say "Mommy, STOP!"

That's kind of how it is to be a parent. You have to learn when to help (even if it's not needed) and when to back off and let them do things on their own -- sometimes at the risk of getting hurt. Kids need independence, but it's sometimes really difficult to stand down.

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

I only have two kids...and with an eight year age difference they are both kind of like only children....so I don't run into much of the not having time with each now. When my youngest was in infant....I felt a touch of that.

I do fight with my husband about letting our almost three year old do things for herself. He wants to do everything for her. Our newest argument is over the family walks. I let her walk on her own. She stays on the sidewalk and she waits for me at phone poles. (We live in a quiet residential neighborhood) She just loves to run from pole to pole. Chris gets extremely freaked out because "she's going to fall and hurt herself". I tell him that of course she is. Maybe not today, but someday she will fall and get hurt. But you've got to let kids run!

Charleston Catholic / Clay Center Project said...

It is hard to watch them make mistakes, especially when they get hurt. But I also think that those mistakes are a crucial part of growing up. If you get hurt (emotionally or physically), you know not to do that thing again.