The Hardest Lesson
The most liberating truth I’ve come to realize as a parent is also the most terrifying: It is not my job to shield my children from pain and suffering. This is not the message you receive when you first make eye contact on their birth day, when they are new. This deception is necessary. Their newborn scent and tiny faces contain the formula that awakens a sense of innate protection. These seemingly fragile creatures are so helpless. Then, you learn a hard lesson a little more after the introduction: They can only rightfully become themselves if you let go—and let them—a little more each day, the right way. How do you let them go the right way? Part of it is accepting that they will run home alone one day, because you’ve shown them the way. But it will look different each time. There will be a fallen branch that causes them to stumble; construction that requires a detour; or an unexpected encounter with a stranger that leads to a lifelong friendship, or heartache… If they know