Tuesday, May 26, 2009

No.
Stop that.
Don't touch. 
Get that out of your mouth. 

It seems like these days I am more of a referee and a fun blocker than anything else.   I have those days where I feel like I have not said or done anything except give my children boundaries, boundaries that they need to be drawn ever so close and hard these days.  

This weekend as we were away from home with my parents, I did get a chance to shift my perspective.   Although these boundaries are important, so is letting your children fly, and telling them that they can.   They need us to set limits and rules, but we also need to give them the confidence to challenge, and dare I say it, break the rules.  

So as they sit in my arms for a entire two seconds, before they are off to jump off the furniture or open the drawers, or throw things off the loft, let me whisper in their little ears, "You can do anything"  "I love you so much it hurts"  "You are so special"  "You have the world by the tail"  

I pray they have the confidence to break the rules....but let them wait until tomorrow....(it is Dad's day to watch them on Wednesdays)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Katie:)
    I think we have the exact dialouge at our house!!
    They are pretty good about being "separated" and even seem to enjoy it for an hour or so, but then they will start asking where "Dee" is (the name they have for each other)-weird huh??
    I think it's more of an adjustment for me then them-I feel strange without both of them!!

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  2. it's such a fine line and a balancing act, the whole "giving them freedom to make their own decisions" and "setting boundaries" thing. i constantly find myself asking, "is this worth the battle?" and not knowing the answer.

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