Letting kids be kids
With the first child, we used to be "don't run", "don't touch that", "don't go there" type of parents. But when Shannon and Amber came along, we slowly let go - we decided that kids needed to be kids, but mainly because we got tired of shouting.
When I encounter younger parents, barking orders at their kids with lots of restrictions and rules, it does remind me of our earlier days and I often wonder if we were just as strict.
I think children, of all ages, including those above 40, learn by experience. Good experiences and failures alike - as the old saying goes, whatever doesn't kill you (or put you in the hospital), makes you stronger (or more careful). In Western cultures, you'd find kids rolling around in mud, chasing poisonous snakes and climbing up on rooftops - noted, some of them might eventually be physically or mentally warded, they do have a society which is more advanced in risk-taking and innovation.
So I (and I can't speak for Celest) prefer to let them do their own thing these days, get up to their own mischief and discover their own interests. As long as they don't end up in a ditch or thrown in prison, there is a time that the rules have to be relaxed so that they can blossom into useful adults.
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| Amber trying to steal an icicle from someone's house |
I think children, of all ages, including those above 40, learn by experience. Good experiences and failures alike - as the old saying goes, whatever doesn't kill you (or put you in the hospital), makes you stronger (or more careful). In Western cultures, you'd find kids rolling around in mud, chasing poisonous snakes and climbing up on rooftops - noted, some of them might eventually be physically or mentally warded, they do have a society which is more advanced in risk-taking and innovation.
So I (and I can't speak for Celest) prefer to let them do their own thing these days, get up to their own mischief and discover their own interests. As long as they don't end up in a ditch or thrown in prison, there is a time that the rules have to be relaxed so that they can blossom into useful adults.