Grasshopper New Media Presents...

You do your best. You wake up at night and get the glass of kitchen water, because the bathroom water tastes funny. You get up early to go over dictation words one more time before test days. You make lunches. You carpool. You sit in freezing cold rinks or humid dance studios. You serve chicken nuggets when you want lobster. You watch the same movie over and over again, because your child loves how that princess sings that song.

Though, sometimes, your worry too much. You overanalyze, overreact and overbear.

Let your kids fall. And watch for their reaction. Kids are tough. They’re resilient. Lord knows my kids have to be with a klutz like me as a Mom! Let them skin their knees and fall off rocks. Let them cry, but let them come to you. Kiss their hurts and send them back on with a smile. They’ll learn that they sometimes fall, but someone is there to help them get back on with it.

Let your kids fight their battles. It’s hard to accept, but not everyone is going to be nice. Not everyone is going to love them as much as you do. Your kids can handle it and they will surprise you with their abilities. This is all within reason of course, but let them take the lead in dealing with peer conflict. If you listen and guide, they’ll know when it’s time to bring you in.

Let your kids be mad at you. Because just like you, not everyone is going to like your kid all the time, your kid is not going to like you all the time. Let them rant and rave. Let them storm and stomp. When they’re done, tell them that no matter how angry they are, you still like them better than anyone else in the world. Trust me, it works every time.

Let your kids wear what they want. Like that summer dress to school – even if it’s 30 below outside. Put a turtleneck and tights underneath. Let him wear his Buzz Lightyear pj’s under his jeans and t-shirt. Let them wear that same outfit, again. Chances are your child’s teacher has seen it before. Chances are even higher her own child is doing that very same thing that very same day.

We’re all amazing parents. We spend time reading, writing and talking about parenting. We’re all doing our best. It’s just that sometimes, we all need to be reminded that parenting is actually quite instinctual. When you go with your heart and let them be, just a bit, you’ll rarely go wrong.

[tags]parents, moms, dads, kids, children, toddlers, babies, difficulties, love, earnestness, caring, patience[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by .eti, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved