Epiphany

As I was waiting for Amber to get out of school I was watching Emma play on the playground. I sat under a tree and just let her play. I love watching her going down the slide. Then she decided to climb up the slide. At one point I watched her try to get onto what I call the fire pole. That's what it looks like. I didn't think she would do it by herself. All of a sudden she was hanging in midair. One hand on the pole and one hand on the bar next to the platform. I was about to jump up and rescue her when she figured out how to get her feet around the fire pole and slide down. Then all proud of herself she comes over to me, "Mom, did you see that?" So I had to will my heartbeat to slow down. A few moments later I saw her climbing over the edge of the slide. There was a little ledge that didn't connect to anything else except one of the main poles of the entire playset. Yikes. She grabbed onto that and just hung there. Once again I debated going to rescue her! And once again she climbed down the pole with no visible harm!
So, here's my epiphany. My kids don't need me to step in and save them from everything I perceive to be harmful. They are capable of taking care of themselves (to an extent). I realized that I have told them No a lot of times just because I didn't think they knew how, or that they were too little, or just plain couldn't do something. I guess I shouldn't do that. I have probably squashed a lot of their zest for life just because I was fearful of them branching out and doing something without me! So, maybe if I am reminded of this epiphany I will be able to enable my kids to accomplish great things, and I don' t have to be the one that dictates what or how they do it!
And now that my epiphany is complete, here are a few pictures to enjoy!





Emma putting grass on Emma's head!
The end result. Emma ended up looking like a chia pet!