Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/fear-or-cheer-when-to-say-no--when-to-let-go/5017566/
�" Situation �"Imagine a conversation between two parents sitting on a park bench at the local playground:
Mark: “My son loves to climb. He is absolutely fearless. He’ll climb anything. I consider every day without a broken bone a miracle!”
Anne: “My daughter is the same! I have nightmares worrying about concussions or being called a negligent parent. I don’t know when to give in to my fears and tell her ‘No’ and when I should cheer her on! Were you a climber as a child?”
Mark: “Oh yes, and I had the broken bones to prove it!”
Anne: “Did that stop you?”
Mark: (Sigh) “Nope.”
At this point, Anne and Mark fall silent. They watch Mark’s son, Joseph, scale the ladder to the highest slide, right behind Anne’s daughter, Marguerite. Marguerite zooms down head first, piercing their silence with her shrieks of delight.
�" Solution �"
Fear or fearless: What is safe?
We want our children to have confidence and not live in fear but at the same time we don’t want them to be “fearless.” A friend of mine remembers her mother’s admonition to “be careful” and how she had longed to be sent out the door with a cheerful “have fun” instead.
The dilemma ...