Stages

Yesterday all of sudden I had no idea where Hannah was. She's such a sweet girl most of the time and can find things to do to entertain herself. She does like to sing and talk while she's playing so I usually can hear her playing and suddenly I realized I couldn't hear or see her! I panicked. I was running through the house yelling her name I was frantic! There have been a couple other times this has happened and both times she was not in a good place....once when she was very small (she was crawling) we found her under the furnace! (the furnace was up on blocks). The other time I found her stuck out in the van and it was HOT and she was sweaty and it was probably one of the most scary moments of my life....anyway, I do digress. So, here I am yelling for her, running through the house and then I opened the door going out to the garage and the garage door was open! I ran out yelling for her and the neighbor boys pointed down the street and there she was riding her big wheel. I ran down to her feeling a mixture of relief and anger, when she said so sweetly "mom, I'm practicing riding my bike". I looked and there she was pedaling! Her usual way of riding her bike is to push off with her feet....but here she was using the pedals and it was working! So, I did what I didn't have time to do.....I walked with her around the block so she could practice. As we walked/rode every once in a while she needed a little push....to get over a hump in the sidewalk. I thought how interesting it was that while she was learning to ride her bike...Zack and Josh are learning to drive a car....while she needs me to give her a little push now and then and a reminder to steer the bike straight the boys need me to tell them when to slow down and when to merge and they also need me to keep my eyes open even if I want to curl into the fetal position and kiss the ground when we're out of the car. They are all in different stages of learning....but they all still need a little or maybe a lot of help. As we walked and rode around that block I thought about my children when they were born...they were so tiny and helpless and they needed me for everything!!! As they grow they learn and it's our job to teach them and as they learn they need you to do things for them less and less. Parenting is learning to let go... a little at a time....and I think that is the hardest part!