Brave Beyond His Years

I’ll definitely be the first to admit that my instincts often lean toward helicopter parenting. Being someone that grew up with anxiety and always calculating risk, it’s natural to continue to do that with your own children.

Alex was adventurous, but always had a good sense of caution for the most part. She would enjoy trying new things, but hesitated at anything too risky, sometimes letting others go first to be sure it was safe. Then she’d be all about trying it.

Caile was definitely like me as a child. She stayed close to me where ever we were. I never had to worry about her venturing off or getting hurt. Even at a playground, she was careful and preferred often watching others rather than doing all the things.

Ella came along and wanted to do all the things that her older siblings could do and more. We always giggle at her passing Caile on jungle gyms as she had little fear and wanted to be “big”. She loved dirt, sand, water and anything Caile wasn’t a big fan of. She still took risk into consideration though thankfully.

Noah was well balanced. He enjoyed adventure, but also calculated risk. He was never the first to try something, but was willing to give it go. More like Alex that way. When he was little he sided more on the side of caution rather than fun, but that scale has been tilting now that he’s older.

And now comes Ezra… I’m confident he has little to no fear of anything physical. He doesn’t calculate any risk, just determines the fun level. He’ll try anything and has to be able to do all the things kids 5 times his age can.

He’s been climbing playground equipment before he could talk, will jump off of anything, be the first one in the water and truly loves any kind of adventure.

All of that sounds fun unless your his parent lol. I promised myself that I’d let him be him as long as he isn’t going to do something that could truly injure himself. It’s been tough at times. He does things physically none of the others could do at his age, but I love his spirit and determination. So I take a big breath and let him grow.

Yesterday was a perfect example. We went to a bigger sledding hill. He went down a couple of times with the big kids. He was so determined to go by himself. I hadn’t let him until then. He has been down enough now that he knows how to sit, hold on, etc. He asked me again, then jumped on a sled. I didn’t stop him. I held my breath while he went down. He laughed and enjoyed every moment of it.

He went a few times by himself, carrying up his sled after each turn. Today we went to the backyard so he could sled some more. Our hill isn’t big, but he still enjoyed it. I wish I would have had pictures of him yesterday, but I was too set on watching his every move to even get out my phone. I did get some from today.

I love his love for life, adventure and fun. I hope I can continue to practice being his biggest fan, never holding him back by my own anxieties. I’ve come a long way and I’m excited to see where this boy takes his sense of adventure. ❤️