As parents, it is our responsibility to keep our kids safe.
If my kids have heard it once, they've heard it a bazillion times,
"Stay by Mom..."
I will not be that mom whose kids are running all over the store,
always running ahead, or running away.
It is imperative that they learn to stay by me.
Homeschooling is often thought of as over-protecting our kids.
I beg to differ, obviously.
While I do believe it is a way to protect them, I don't think of it any differently than
the use of a seat belt or a life jacket or whole grain foods--
I am doing what I think is best for them and for their development,
emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
I also believe it is important to balance
"Stay by Mom"
with "go ahead...I'll meet you there."
When we played at the park
I promised them that we could ride the trail that runs right near it.
It was built on an old railroad bed;
I remember watching the trains run on the tracks.
So when they asked me if they could run ahead,
I said, "Sure! I'll meet you at the bridge."
(By the time I walked that distance, they had run back and forth
a time or two...)
Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of that day,
I've been trying to learn/extract life lessons out of just about every experience.
In our world that has gotten so dangerous,
it was so fun for me to watch them just be free.
No watching for cars, trucks, or tractors.
We had the trail to ourselves, so no weird strangers.
We were on no time frame--no worry about schedules.
It was just
wide
open
space.
It was just what they we needed.
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