Let Them Go!

Today, one of my best friends learned one of the BIGGEST lessons there is for a mom to learn.

She had been anticipating weaning her son of his last bottle.  We had talked about it multiple times and I gave her my best advice.  Well, this morning, I got this message in my inbox saying,

"So [he] couldn't care less that he didn't have a bottle this morning. Lol! I handed him his sippy with warm milk and he took a sip, handed it back to me, and then went to the fridge to ask for his morning smoothie. We ate a bowl of oatmeal/raisins and he's a happy guy. Beautiful."

I called her immediately and congratulated her on learning one of the biggest lessons of motherhood: letting them go!

Now, mind you, her son is still a babe and we're not talking letting them go physically, all I am saying is that, as mothers, we want to protect our children.  With the best of intentions, we can end up standing in their way as they grow and explore.  Instead of letting them fall, we are protecting their every move and they end up missing half of the life lessons they were intended to learn. 

Obviously, it is our job to protect our sweet little ones.  But, as mothers, it is so important for us to constatly re-evalute ourselves so we know if we are enabling their fears/attachments/bad habits or allowing them to branch out and learn new things.  When we let them do this, it can often be uncomfortable but in the long run, we can teach them to trust their gut, not be afraid, and try ANYTHING!

Afterall, we want them to know that they can do anything they set their mind to, right?