Like many working parents probably feel, we like to spend as
much time as we can with our kids at night and on weekends. I wouldn't say that
we are necessarily trying to make up for the lost time (although I guess that’s
true, too), but we just genuinely like to be with our kids. However, this
sometimes causes conflicts in our parenting.
We let them stay up later than we probably should because when you don’t
get home with them until 6, it’s hard to put them to bed at 7:30. And Cole
probably eats more hot dogs than he should because prepping and making and
fighting with him to eat a more elaborate dinner takes time out of playing and
cuddling. The other two facets of this: we don’t let our kids go many places
without us, and we like to be there whenever they do something for the first
time.
So when my mother-in-law asked if she could take Cole to his
cousin’s birthday party at a bowling alley, I panicked. But we won’t be there.
And he’s never been bowling. So we won’t be with him, and we won’t see him bowl
for the first time. Irrational thoughts? Probably. But when it comes to parenting,
we can’t always be rational. However, there comes a time and place when we have
to set aside our hang-ups as parents and realize that it’s okay to let go. We
had plans that night anyway, so it’s not as though we would be home with him.
And I knew that he would have fun. So I had to be a big girl and let him go.
He was sick that day which made the whole situation even
tougher, but I got him ready and packed his backpack. He definitely wasn't feeling like himself, but we had been building up this day all week, and he was
determined to go. I cried a little when it was time to say goodbye and even
more after he left. But he had a great time as I knew he would. And we will
have many more weekends. And many more firsts. And we can take him bowling for his
second time.
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| My big boy ready to go to the party |
