The mistake is that we think life has a script we should be reading from

I’ve started reading memoirs by the esteemed actor, Sidney Poitier and I’ve only got through a few pages but a few things have struck a chord with me. How he learnt as a child and the confidence that came with it.

His mother through him into the ocean as a baby as he struggled for his life. When he had tired his father fished him out. His mother then through him in again and again until she was certain he could swim. Lesson over.

In today’s society the state would get involved with this but it was the norm and it was essential to his learning.

As he got older he frequently as a 6 year old disturbed nests of wasps and came back home with burning puffy eyes. His mother used an African remedy of oils to soothe his burns and he was back the following day. He was not deterred and his intrigue was insatiable. There were many other incidents, each becoming more dangerous as he entered his teenage years. He knew his boundaries or discovered them for himself.

No social media or TV of any kind meant that nature and people were his sole mode of entertainment and learning the way of the world. Animals did not talk. Animals did not wear clothes and people did not have 8 eyes. Aliens did not exist for sure.

Reading this made me think about the following:

1. Overload of information we get today

2. We are so protective of our children

3. A mistake is clearly defined

4. Don’t go off centre and parent your child your way.

…

I’m sure you could think of many more things. The perfect way to do things is always at the forefront of everything we do. Letting your child fall we plan for, then pick them up as soon as we can. Was I really 7 years old in London and out for 8hrs before my mother saw me again? I was and she never feared as to where I was or more importantly, what I was doing.

Nothing is more poignant than the chronicles of how we raise children today. That’s the thing. We raise them, but do we let them experience the world as it should be? I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer to this.

What I do know is that I’m starting to let go of the notion of getting ‘it’ right all the time.