I was reading this story at News.com.au this morning about a mother who had to drop her toddler ten metres from a fairground ride that had malfunctioned. Scary stuff.
Sherri Pinkerton and her daughter Gracie got stuck on the Crazy Bus ride at the fair in Port Orange, Florida, when it suddenly restarted as they were stepping out of it at the weekend, The Sun reported today.
Thankfully all ended well with no one seriously injured but it was still a tough decision for Sherri to let go of her little girl.
A group of men gathered under the mum, pleading with her to drop the child.
“She held on to the baby for probably three minutes or so then she did drop the baby so they could catch her,” Ms Craft said.
Ms Pinkerton said she would never forget having to make the decision to drop her child.
“I held on to her as long as I could until people started getting underneath the bus and told me to drop her,” she said, according to local6.com news.
“I didn’t want to.”
The men caught the child safely while Ms Pinkerton and the other passengers trapped inside the ride were rescued with the help of a ladder.
Reading the story made me think about how as parents we’re constantly in the process of letting our children go. It’s a scary course of action but we’ve got to be continually loosening our grip so that we can release them into the world. We have to be careful not to let go too soon or too late but the process begins from the day our kids are born.
We let go a little bit more every time we hand over responsibilities and decisions to our young ones. It’s not easy to stand back and watch our children suffer the consequences of their own actions but little by little we’ve got to let the ones we love reap what they’ve sown. We’re there to be their safety net but we can’t allow ourselves to swoop in and shield our children in every situation. Wrapping them in cotton wool is never the solution.
I still remember my mum handing me some decisions that I didn’t feel ready to make when I was a young teenager. It would have been so much easier if she had made those decisions but she was letting go and I’m so glad that she did. I learnt that I was responsible for my own life and I needed to discover how to make wise decisions on my own. Having her loosen her grip was a little bit scary but I found that I didn’t really fall that far before I hit solid ground. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt at all.
Now I have to continue letting go of our children. I need to hand over more and more responsibility and so that those young ones who I love so very much can learn to stand on their own two feet. It’s not always easy.
Can you remember your parents gradually letting go so that you could make your own way in the world? Are you letting go of your own kids?
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