Grabbing the Golden Ring

He wanted to grab for the golden ring, and I had to let him do it, and not say anything, even if I thought he was not ready.  When you have kids, you have to let them fall, so you can build up their confidence and not destroy their self-esteem.  You should try to not follow them around wherever they go, but it would be fine for you to grab them to slow things down while they are falling.  As they walk across the balance beam of life, there will be times when they will fall off and you can’t reach up every time to try and catch them.  You can’t let them fall down a whole flight of stairs, or injure themselves when there are sharp objects around, but if you enclose them in bubble wrap, they will never be able to experience the consequences of their actions, so they will never grow up.  There will come a time when it is necessary for you to take the training wheels off of their bike.  All children will eventually grow up and they need to know how to stand on their own feet, so they have to develop the motor skills involved with falling down and picking themselves back up again.  You need to love and protect your children, but that must stop short of smothering them, as that will end up crushing their spirit.  Safety is always important, because this will prevent serious injuries, but children need to get feedback from their body, so they can learn how to catch themselves when they feel that they are losing their balance.  This will make them resilient, as all children will face turmoil, especially as they struggle toward maturity, and by meeting various obstacles, they can learn how to overcome them through perseverance, and hopefully in the end, they will be able to triumph and grab that golden ring.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #179.