Proof That I Have Grown As a Parent
I am a worrier. My imagination can find the danger in the most common objects and situations. My natural parenting style is something called Fearful and Clutching.
But this is, of course, bad for my kids and I have tried to overcome it. I want my girls to be strong and brave and independent. I am trying to loosen my grip on their tiny shoulders when reasonable and let them roam and have fun.
I recently downloaded the photos from my camera. Among all the other forgotten shots was a series of photos I took at a local park in August. The park is shaped like a bowl, with a rolling valley in the middle, and the playground and benches on the bowl’s rim. I was nine months pregnant and tired, so I sat on a camp chair with my one-year-old, and let four-year-old JellyBean and three-year-old Sweetpea roam the hollow as far as they liked, as long as they stayed where I could see them.
And so they did.
Letting them wander away makes it even sweeter when they come back.
poppy fields
And this probably felt like a fun adventure for Sweetpea and JellyBean, too.
suburbancorrespondent
Oooh, that’s a perfect hill for rolling down!
edj
oh, and you’re such a good mom too! Look at those hats!
That looks like a really fun park.
Courtney
It is nice to be able to give them some room and let them learn. I wish we had a nice park like this.
Kelley
Those are lovely pictures of your girls. That looks like a wonderful park as well.
Minnesotamom
What a sweet park! Must…build…one…
Miscellaneous From Missy
It is a cold, gray, rainy day here, and those pictures just cheered me right up with their wonderful green expanses. I could just feel the freedom of your girls. Thank you!
Erin
They are so cute! makes me miss summer already. Sigh.
bea
I’m hearing the theme music from Little House on the Prairie in my head right now, looking at those photos.
Happy Geek
I can only imagine how big that park seemed to the girls. What an adventure they got to have!
Beck
THAT LAST PICTURE!
Have you ever read Understood Betsy? I parent EXACTLY like the timid auntie in the book. (”Shoo, sir! Shoo!”)