Trust.
It’s only 5 letters, but boy, that is such a big word!
As a parent, that word gets even bigger and very important.
Last week, Rachel’s class had a field trip to see the Hamilton Bulldogs play. Monday night, she came downstairs and she had a conversation with Craig:
“I have 2 questions.”
“Ok”
“Do you know where the blue camera is?”
“I think so.”
She paused.
“You might not like the second question. Don’t worry about it.”
“Wait. What’s the second question?”
“Can I take it to the hockey game with me?”
I had been in the kitchen, listening, but by this time I had wandered into Craig’s office.
I looked at Craig with the “I’m not so sure about this” look.
Craig and I started talking about the idea of her taking the camera. He thought this would be a good way for her to learn some responsibility. I said that I had my concerns.
Craig asked, “Should we talk about this alone?”
I said, “No, if she thinks that she is responsible enough to take the camera with her, then she needs to hear my concerns.”
We talked about: not putting it down, not passing it around between friends, how to hold it properly, what to do with it when she’s not using it, and other things that she would need to do to be responsible.
Then once she heard my concerns and said that she’d be responsible, I agreed to let her take it.
Big huge step.
I put my trust in her, so that she could earn my trust.
All day I worried and hoped.
Worried that she might lose it or break it.
Hoped that she would be the responsible girl that I know she can be.
She did it!
When she got home from school that day she was very excited to tell me all about the game. I asked her if she took a lot of photos. Excitedly, she told me what she took photos of and that she did everything we talked about. She even told her friends “no” when they asked to use it.
It is a wonderful feeling when you know that what you’re doing as a parent is working.
With each new challenge, I know that Craig, Rachel (eventually Lauren) and I can talk through a situation, and have a successful outcome!
With each new challenge, I know that I can step out of my safe comfort zone and have my awesome daughter show me how awesome she really is!
This led to Rachel’s first blog post!
Read it here on Craig’s blog — A trip to the Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Rochester Americans hockey game in Hamilton!
