Two things happened over the weekend that shows me how much Rachel is really growing up. These things also showed us how much we have grown as parents too!

“I’ll give you my email address to give to your new friends from camp.  Or maybe we could just get you your own!?!”

I said these words over breakfast on the morning that Rachel was leaving for camp.  I hadn’t really thought about it before that.  Craig and I agreed that this wasn’t a bad idea.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we left to make her her own email address, but we will.

This will give her a little independence and a lot of responsibility. We will work with her to stay safe, but have fun at the same time.

Last night a comment on Facebook (which has since been deleted), really got under my skin.  Someone posted that they felt that Rachel was too young to go to camp and that she couldn’t imagine letting her son go.  Her son is almost a year older than Rachel.  So because she is hesitant, she feels it’s okay to publicly question my parenting choices?  I explained that I had gone to camp when I was 6 and Rachel is now 7 1/2.  Her response was “would she jump off a cliff if you did?”

Give me a break!!

I would not send my kid to a place if I didn’t trust them.  I would not send my kid to camp if she didn’t want to go. There are many things that I have done in my life that I would love for my children to experience but if they don’t want to then they won’t!

Why do I have to defend my choices for my kid? I don’t!

And if Rachel wanted to jump off a cliff, and I knew it was safe, maybe I’d let her!  I recently jumped off a cliff myself.

And climbed up one (thanks to Ford Canada!) …

I can’t keep my kids in a box. They need to explore the world…with us…and without us.  I can’t shelter her forever.  By letting her go out into the world, it will show what successful parents we are, that what we have taught our daughters will help them be successful when we’re not there for every step….or jump.