Raising a fearless child...

With her 6th birthday just around the corner, and her first ever report card expected tonight, I have been thinking a lot about what comes next. Daycare was a bubble, it was safe, familiar, and protective. It gave us everything we needed when we needed it the most. And while our transition to kindergarten has not been seamless, it has been far better than I had originally anticipated. 

So, clearly, she’s a big kid now; it’s time for change and she is more than ready for the challenge.

I need to encourage her to try new things, allow her to discover whether she can step out of her comfort zone and learn to overcome her fears and uncertainties. I need to take a step back and let her learn to solve more problems on her own, let her experiment and let her learn from her mistakes. I need her to know that, even though she might not like it, failure IS an option and it's completely normal and one of the best ways to learn. I want to build her self confidence and self-esteem, make her believe that she can do anything that she sets her mind to and be comfortable just being herself.

My biggest hurdle will be not to pass my own fears down onto her. I know that she is more than ready to grow, but it terrifies me to raise a fearless child! Although, she is already proving to be one!

Before last summer, she had dropped out of 3 previous soccer sessions. I was so frustrated with her lack of commitment that I swore I would never register her for soccer again! But this past summer, she asked again, and with Covid it was one of the few activities we could register for so we tried... and she surprised us! She stuck with it, and she loved it; so much so that she is continuing now throughout the school year twice a week! While I am not happy with the 8am weekend practices, I continue to support and encourage her to get out there and have fun!

Back in July, she shocked me when she choose a wall climbing activity for DH's birthday. I was hesitant, thinking there was no way she would run up and scale a wall, but she did; over and over again, and she loved it! She was having so much fun that I had to put my own fears aside, clip in my harness and follow her lead! Going up wasn't so bad, but rappelling back down was a little bit scary! She doesn't know yet, but we are going back this weekend for her birthday and I haven't fully decided if it will be myself or DH who gets to climb with her - because it was kind of fun!

And again, a couple of weeks ago, we were finally able to book a horseback riding class for her, the first in over 2 years! Halfway through the class, the poor pony tripped over its own feet while trotting, launching her forward onto the ground! I gasped and held on to the gate, but didn't say a word; and she stood up, dusted herself off, laughed out loud and got right back on the pony's back like a champ!

You know, while my primary goal right now is to raise a fearless child, I'm beginning to wonder if she's simultaneously raising a fearless mother.