I’m Being Brave: Raising a Brave Girl
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I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times the words “Be careful” have come out my mouth since Penelope became mobile. I feel like sometimes I was saying it a hundred times a day. Then, a couple of months ago, I saw this TED talk.
Whoa.
Suddenly, I was self-conscious every time I said it. I started using the words “Pay attention to your body”, I started providing directions and support when she wanted to do something that was challenging for her little, just-turned-two body, and I started praising her bravery. This past weekend, I got to see the efforts to shift my words pay off.
When we visit our neighborhood playground, the same one we have been visiting since before she could walk, she loves to climb the stairs and go down the slides over and over again. A few weeks ago, my husband and I guided her through climbing the plastic rocks to get up on the structure. This past week, she did it without fail, turned to me at one point and said “I’m being brave.” She said it again while attempting to climb up one of the metal structures. It brought tears to my eyes.
“I’m being brave!”
Because right now, my little girl is being brave with her body. Every time she conquers a new physical obstacle, she is showing herself that she is capable. And, with every one of those successes, she becomes more and more brave.
As she grows, I can only hope that she continues to find that bravery in other aspects of her life. I want her to be brave about speaking out against injustice done to herself or others, I want her to live life without fearing change, and I want her to always embrace adventure.
But for now, I’ll be happy as she continues facing challenges head-on and keep reinforcing that being brave is being awesome.
Yes! I told myself that I would never be a helicopter mom. If my very active 1 1/2 year old falls I tell him he is okay and call it a life leason. I have definitely used “be caregul” quite a bit and may need to switch to different verbiage.
It is very important to teach children to try new things and not be afraid. Yet as parents, or grandparents, its natural to try to protect and keep them from harm. I congratulate you on raising a brave girl! I am trying to do the same with my granddaughter.
I love this post. I think it is very important to raise brave children and that they wont be afraid to try new things (like vegetables lol). Great post
I love this post! My daughter is like yours – no real fear and always trying new things. I love calling it brave – I’m going to need to try to remember to do that – I do try to encourage her fearlessness though!
This is an area I have just recently started moving forward in. My knee-jerk reaction is “be careful”. I am training myself to be silent until asked for help. Or, if the timing is right, I offer help and advice on how to tackle the task at hand. I realized, I would rather train them to be able to do these things than fervently try to keep them from life.