Just before I head out the door to work I get a call from the school principal with her version of the events (which sounded nothing like what I had witnessed). Anyway so everything’s cool and nobody’s hurt, but a little bit of a bruised ego or two.
So here is my question: How much rope do we actually give our kids before we try to stop them from hanging themselves? I could see the play was getting rough, but I held back, not wanting to intervene. Is the fact that he ended up in a fight a good thing? Did it teach him a lesson? I have adopted the “let them get their hands dirty” approach to parenting, but as I see it in action, I wonder. Am I doing the right thing?
To answer this, I take myself out of the equation. My kid is somebody else’s kid. Somebody else is his mom. It does not take but a second for me to decide “Heck yeah I’m doing the right thing!” No way should I run up there and tell him he’s “playing too rough and somebody might get hurt” in front of 8 other kids. Perhaps, if I were a teacher or other adult, intervening would be appropriate, but as his mother? No way!
Here’s my bottom line (whether you are a parent or not). Never second guess your instincts. Trust yourself to do the right thing when things happen. (Things will happen, for sure). Unless you live in a cave, you will face dilemmas in this world which require your quick and decisive action vs. inaction. Do not hesitate to do what is right. You have within you the ability to make the right judgment. That is you. That power belongs to you. Use it. Use it well.
Now the kids can play tag with a high-tech (and safer) twist.
Spy Laser Chase
