I walked into the bedroom yesterday, Jack was holding his iPad with tears in his eyes. He just finished watching a clip about a women who lost not only her home from a tornado, but one of her children. The clip he watched was from the show Extreme Makeover, as her home was being re-built. He told me the heart wrenching story of a mother who hovered with both of her children in her arms by a tree as she tried to protect them while a tornado tore through her home. One of her children was ripped out of her arms and didn’t survive.
When Jack told me the story, I said to him, “this feeling of vulnerability for my children is what I try to make peace with as each of my boys venture more out of childhood.” Peer pressure, outside influences and forces that truly exist in the world they have to contend with, no matter how much we as parents try to protect them.
This past month, many learning opportunities have come up with both boys ~ in school, with friends, boundaries and all the gift of exploring the world more. When a recent situation came up with CJ regarding school, Jack said to me, “he needs to be able to understand his ownership of responsibility within all of this to best serve him in his life.”
I asked CJ to write a letter about ‘responsibility’ and he came out a few minutes later and said… “I didn’t write a letter, I wrote a speech.” I was floored as he gave me his speech because all the words were his own reflection. This gave me some peace, knowing my boys are getting what they need to succeed from our home.
Then again, the process starts all over again when my youngest comes home from a sleepover at a friend’s house and is scared out of his mind because they watched a completely inappropriate, scary movie!
It’s a dance, letting our children explore the world while doing our best to keep them safe.
Wishing the best for you and yours…
Luv&Smiles
Anne