Both of my little boys feel much empowered by being allowed to make decisions on their own (what to have for lunch, what to wear, which chore activities they want to do to earn fun activities, what order to school subjects, etc.), perform "big people" tasks, and overcome their challenges one at a time. They both have a strut, and we have seen it often as of late as we have learned to ride a bike without training wheels, started tball, can make a pbj by ourselves ...oh yeah, they are pretty much hot stuff.
Really, talking to some other moms I realize that while they are trying to instill confidence in their children ...I am trying to teach them to be teachable, accept instruction, not be overly confident and over all direct that awesome quality away from thinking too highly of themselves. Confidence is NOT an issue for us :)
And, while we are on the subject, we are learning that this tendency towards independence can often cause situations that are not ...ideal :)
Like, when Canon decided for some reason only known to Canon to drag the LADDER from the garage, through the house, to the back yard, set it up next to the fence ...and, that is when Ty tattled on him. We never could figure out what his plan was, but he was very proud of himself for getting the monster ladder out there by himself....
OR, when he tried to help mommy make cookies and pulled out the eggs all by himself ...
OR, when he thought it would be a great idea to add WATER to the unset jello so that "we could have more!" ..of course. The added at least one cup of water to the jello liquid, and overflowed it ALL over the fridge. NOT an easy thing to clean up :)
OR, when he tried to cut himself some melon, with the biggest knife he could find ... and filleted his finger, all before mommy realized he was out of sight.
Yes, independence is a great thing. If we can learn it while surviving our childhood :)
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