One of the best things about being a stay at home mother, is that you get to see and shape most of your child’s first experiences.

You introduce them to a football, you show them how you kick it, then you stand back and let them have a try.

You see them struggle or triumph, persist or give up, fill with excitement or frustration, joy or anger. You see what their strengths and weaknesses are. What they like and don’t like.

You encourage them, praise them, help them, have fun with them, and you get to teach them other things like skills, rules, the bigger picture of life.

Basically, you help them become the person they are.

And it happens in front of your eyes. Every day. It’s very cool.

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I guess crafting new experiences for your child is all part of nurturing their character.

On the flip side, you don’t want to under-estimate your child’s potential, or be a pushy parent, or be one with deluded expectations. You don’t want to smother your child, hold them back or keep them wrapped up in cotton wool.

There’s a nice fine balance of keeping an open mind, knowing when to push and when to stand back.

There’s wisdom in knowing when to let go.

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And in the process of crafting new experiences, there are the parts where :

They just astound you with their capabilities.

They teach YOU that they are stronger than you think.

Smarter than you think.

More capable of complex thinking than you think.

More emotionally sensitive than you think.

They teach you how to look beyond the present and have a bit of faith.

That they can adapt to new situations.

And that you just have to loosen up a bit, because life goes on.

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