With Hannah starting 5th Grade, I realized it was time for me to loosen my hold a little. I allowed her and a friend to cross the busy main street to visit the pet store all by themselves (this just about killed me!), I left Hannah home alone one morning when I went to get my blood work done (it is a good thing they didn't check my blood pressure that morning!), and I have started to let her try her hand at baking on her own.
She has completed two baking projects with little adult interference. The first was a banana bread that was quite good, the second was sugar cookies with frosting, all homemade. She made the cookies this weekend with her friend Haley. They had just finished making the dough and were ready to put it in the refrigerator to chill when Hannah asked me, "Mom, why do they call them sugar cookies if they don't have any sugar in them?" We had to regroup, check the recipe, and add the 3/4 cup sugar that was called for (wouldn't those have been interesting cookies?). In the end their cookies turned out great and their blue frosting was perfect.
The point to all this is that we need to give our kids opportunities to grow and try new things, as difficult as it often is for us to let them go. I love the sense of accomplishment I see on Hannah's face after she has completed a new task or activity all by herself and I am proud of myself for having enough faith in her to take a step back and watch from a distance.
I thought I'd share some pictures of my mom and me taken this morning after church. What a wonderful visit we are having, I will hate to see her go on Wednesday!
2 comments:
Your mom still looks like she did when I was in Jr. High, must be all the Wii
Let Hannah fly!!
claire, harley, goober and moxie
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