Sink or Swim

We all know being a parent is hard sometimes.  It’s always hard when you let your kid sink, instead of helping them swim.

What if you were teaching your child how to swim; but they just wanted you to hold them in the water because they didn’t want to swim?  You have to make them let go, and you the parent have to scoot away in the water.  Why?  Because if you don’t, they’ll never to swim.  They may sink a little.  And they may come up spitting water and coughing.  You may even hear, “Why did you do that?  Were you trying to let me drown?!?”  Of course not.  Of course you didn’t want harm to come their way.  But you see that a little discomfort in learning is better in the long run when they are swimming laps and diving.  Such is life.  Some lessons are harder than others.

Tonight has been a hard lesson for one of my children.  There have been weeks, WEEKS, to prepare a project.  And the child is up late, finishing the project at 10 pm.  This particular child requires extra sleep . . . so this is gonna suck in the morning.  Of course, he will get no pity in the morning either, as he chose to not complete his work ahead of time.

There have been tears tonight.  Tears and whining and arguments and tantrums and more tears.  And, “Why can’t I just turn it in late?”.  It’s almost comical (but not quite) when the children think that parent reaches don’t extend to school.  He wants to turn it in late . . . um, no.  “But, the teacher will accept it late!”.  Too bad, I won’t let you turn it in late.  You do it now, or you get a zero.  Sometimes a person just runs out of second chances.  Hopefully this will get thru to the child while he is a child and we are talking school projects.  Learning this lesson later on in life, say with a job, would be a much harder lesson.

Tonight I am thankful that the child is going to bed now!  Which means that I can go to bed now!  He is going to be woken up early tomorrow . . just for finishing touches.  Everything is turn-in-able right now.  So he has earned his sleep.  Wish me luck in the morning.  I wonder if he likes coffee?  I’m not particularly fond of the stuff, but I think I’ll need some tomorrow.  Coffee, ear plugs, and a truck load of patience!