Parenting

The past two weeks, I've struggled with dealing with our daycare center director leaving. She is almost a part of our family, and I'm personally sad that she is being let go. And, because I'm an outgoing person, at least half of the parents at the center have my cell phone number and/or email address, so I'm been bombarded with people calling and writing to talk about it. It's been a big factor in my level of stress this past week.

Last night was the parent meeting to talk with the area director and see what was going on. I couldn't bring myself to go. I felt that I'd talked this issue to death, and I had nothing more to lend to the discussion. So Aaron went. And he said that one of the big complaints was that there had been a lot of change in the center lately. A few teachers had left, and had anyone thought about that when making the decision to let our director go? The woman started answering when Aaron raised his hand. He pointed out that in a few years (and less than that for many of the kids) they are going to school. Where they will have new classmates, new teachers, new coaches and teammates on a regular basis. This is a part of growing up - dealing with new things. And he said there was a moment of realization from the other parents - that yes, he was right.

Today I read an article that really hit home. It's by a childless man, but someone who does spend a lot of time with parents and children. And he says that he's noticed that in today's world, we spend a lot of energy 'parenting'. I've talked about it before, but I know that my mom basically raised me with the goal that I had a good education, good self-esteem, and had the basics in life. And she was very successful in that. But I'm sure she didn't angst about my nursery school director leaving and the effect it would have on my life. She knew I would be just fine with a change.

We need to trust that our kids can handle things. They can handle being told no, they can handle trying new foods. They can be put to bed by a babysitter and they can learn new things. They can play by themselves and we can get down on the floor and play with them. Every single parent I know is giving their child a really awesome start - and yeah - I know we all do things differently - but it's all going to be OK. I need to remember this when I'm stressed out about things. Kids need more credit. They are pretty great all on their own. We are really just here to hold their hands as they grow up and tell them everything is going to be OK. Because it will be.