The Truth About Parenting

This morning as I was completing the finishing touches on getting ready for work, Brody joined me in the bathroom. He crawled in from the playroom and immediately laid down on the rug. He was tired as he had been up since 5:30. When it became clear to him that I wasn't going to hold him or rock him he began to explore the bathroom. He does this on a pretty regular basis. Already the trash is off the floor, the toilet brush too, both on the top of the toilet tank. The toilet paper is off the roll and balanced precariously between the trash and the toilet brush holder. A variety of books and toys and balls liter the bathroom floor on a daily basis. But today was different. Today he decided he was going to conquer the stool. Cadence has a cute two-step stool at Daddy's sink to help her reach the sink to wash her hands and brush her teeth. Brody has seen her climb it daily for months. With no one home but us, he decided, tiredly, that this was his chance. And as I was doing my make-up I watched as he made his way up, sitting and first on the top step and then slowly turning around, grabbing the cabinet handles and then the counter. The with all his might pulling his little body up behind him. When he made it up he looked at me and smiled! He did it! I smiled and clapped, I was so proud! Then he began to peruse the contents of the counters. An extra roll of toilet paper was eyed, manipulted, then dropped to the floor. When he moved to gather it, he quickly realized what it meant to be up on the stool and tumbled to the floor. Between him and me responding to soften the blow, he was not injured in the process. I gave him hugs and he was off again trying to conquer the stool. This time I stayed close and then took him through the process that would be required to get down by himself. I moved his hands from the counter to the cabinet handles, then moved his feet down one step, then the hands moved to the top step and the feet to the floor. He was down with only mild complaining that he wasn't in control of him movements during the process. I finished getting ready and sat and watched him climb up and play and then climb down. He started to play with some of the toys on the floor and then climbed up again.

This entire experience this morning captured, to me, what it is to be a parent. The truth about parenting is that it is a fine line between protecting your children from the things that harm them and giving them the tools to manuever the these things with successful results. I mean, I could have kept him locked up in a play pen while I got ready for work. He would be safe in there and I wouldn't have to worry about bumps or bruises. I could even have removed the stool from the bathroom to prevent the potential unsupervised fall to the hard tile floor and the numerous cornered edges that are screaming danger. I could have been overprotective and he would never have learned to crawl back down himself. The fact that I showed him what to do and that he did it is amazing to me. Children are amazing to me and as parents we have such an enormous responsibility to prepare them for life and to prepare THEM for parenting some day. And we can do it better than any other person on the planet. Even if we just do a little, they respond better to us than anyone. I am not a perfect parent. I don't profess to be one and anyone who thinks I am need only listen to my kids rattle off the whos and whats of the cartoon characters and plots, etc. to know! So cherish these golden moments, when my purpose as a parent is clear and I have a moment in time to effect what my children do and in effect who they will become in the future.

Unfortunately there are no photos of this crazy event. My camera battery died at Ben's birthday celebration and I was sure if I left the room to get my phone the moment would have passed. Soon I will blog about MAY and JUNE! and the birthday craziness and summer fun we've been up to! Stay tuned!