Parenting

It's tough. I just want to give them candy all day and let them lie around and do nothing and not have any chores. That's the easy way, the no conflict way. But I know better. I know that the earlier I train them to be responsible the easier it will (or should) be. But I don't like it. The getting tough part, I mean. Like when they were learning to ride without training wheels. I just wanted to leave them on or better yet, take them off and let ME run beside and hold them. Or best of all, just not learn to ride at all, sit in my lap all day, so they wouldn't get skinned knees. But what would that accomplish? So I hold my breath, tell them they can do it and watch them fall a few times so that they will learn that they CAN do it. Without me. And then they get older and it's even harder. Watching them make decisions that I know are hard, watching them have to work when others don't, watching them struggle because I don't step in and hold the bike for them. And sometimes the tears and heartache are hard not to show because I know they are discouraged and don't need to see my tears. So I step back, choke down the impulse to scoop them up off the bike and give them a gentle push and a "You can do it" again. It's easier to teach them to ride a bike than some of the lessons they have to learn in early adulthood. But I know they can do it - with God's hand on them as they ride and to pick them up when they fall - always - even when I am not there.