Gone are the days that kids are free to, just, be kids. They can’t bike on their own, they can’t go to the park on their own, they can’t even go to the mailbox on their own. The world is a different place, definitely, but we, as parents, are different too. We are much more cautious, much more hesitant to let our kids have freedoms.
I want my kids to have some freedoms; I need them to have some freedoms.
It’s time.
So, in the mornings, I stand on my front porch in my snowman flannel pajama pants, hold my giant cup of coffee in my hands, and watch my three children walk to school on their own. I watch them take ownership over something that is just theirs—100% theirs.
And as I watch them walk further and further away from me, I both smile and heavily sigh. I smile because it’s so great to see—the three of them, walking side-by-side, talking to each other. I sigh, though, because I know—with each and every step they take away from me—that my little babies are growing up.