Let Kids Experience Life for Themselves

It’s important for us as parents to remember that our kids need to experience life for themselves and not for us to relive our experiences through them FOR THEM.

“My kids will be cooler than me and move on to live their own lives. I just want to be a close part to all that coolness.”

― Fred Blumenberg

As a dad of four kids, I could easily live vicariously through one of my kids if I chose to. But here’s the deal. It’s their lives. I have to guide them through their journey and allow them to make their own mistakes.

This is an extremely challenging thing to do on all fronts.

First off, I don’t have teenagers (yet) but I can tell you that sometimes it can be extremely challenging to not let them make their mistakes on their own.

But as parents there are a few things that we must understand when it comes to our children living their own lives.

They Have To Make Their Own Mistakes

I remember when we first moved to Idaho and I let my kids walk to school for the first time EVER! They were 7 and 9 years old at the time and I just couldn’t take them to school AND take care of my two baby girls at home AND get work done for my business. It just wasn’t possible. I was literally going insane.

The school is a half mile from our house and it’s a popular walkway that everyone takes to school. I remember my mother-in-law and her mother (Michelle’s grandmother) weren’t fans of this decision. Little did they know, I had taken Trey and Ellie on that walk to their new school a good number of times before I sent them on their merry way.

My mother-in-law and the grandmother had fears of things that could happen along this path to…