As much as I would love to glue my children to my side, so much of being a parent is preparing our little lovebugs to be able to fly alone in this often crazy and confusing world we live in.

This has by far been one of my greatest struggles as a mother and this year has tested my ability to do just that, my first darling child started kindergarten and for the first time he was away from me five whole long days a week.

It has been hard sitting imagining the trouble he could be getting into and wondering have I done enough?

Am I doing enough to help my ever curious child be successful in school and eventually in life?

Is he safe?

Do I need to have the stranger danger conversation once again?

How do I address school shootings and other acts of violence that so often afflict our society?

How do I tell my innocent and optimistic child that there are unfortunately people in this world who may intentionally hurt him?

Today these thoughts plague me more than most, as my still-so-little son has officially departed for his very first field trip sans parents in tow.

I tried, boy did I try, to convince my son to let me come as soon as that permission slip landed in my hand. He was adamant at the time that he wanted to just go with his friends, “after all mom, we go to the zoo a lot together.”

I will admit after one of of my pre-field trip PSA’s he did waiver.

Two days ago it dawned on him that on his little adventure there wouldn’t just be the 22 children from his class, and that the whole grade would be along for the ride.

This revelation was enough to shake the normally unwavering confidence of my child.

“Mom, maybe I do want you to come…”

Those 8 little words so innocuously uttered, cracked my little heart.

I had to explain to my child why I wouldn’t be able to go as much as I would have loved to, as much as I would have moved mountains to be there.

There are rules dictating who can attend these trips, meant for the safety of our children, and I hadn’t submitted the necessary form in duplicate, sharing my whereabouts and activities seemingly since I was myself in Kindergarten.

My husband hadn’t taken off work and younger siblings weren’t allowed. So I firmly could not go, despite my wishes otherwise.

As a reminder to myself and to help you my reader, here are a few tips to get you through these times where letting them go seems SO HARD. 

Prepare Them to Fly Solo 

Prepare them the best you can, don’t leave the group. Listen to the adults.

I don’t care if Johnny B. Naughty thinks it is a great idea to throw sticks at the gorilla or Susie D. Troublemaker wants to climb those rocks, you know how to behave and I expect you to be on your best behavior.

I want you to stay safe and be sure to drink lots of water. Wear your sweater because it may be cold.

Yes you will sound like a nag but that’s okay … your child will probably roll their eyes but would you be doing your job if they didn’t?

If nothing else it will help you feel better and MAYBE some of the advice will sink in.

It Is OKAY to Cry

Watching your kids take steps away from you is hard.

If you are like me, your kids have been your life since you became a mom.

You have spent countless hours worrying and even more taking care of their every need from diaper changes to endless meals prepared. As your kids get older it is *almost* enough to make you miss those baby cuddle filled sleepless nights which seemed to last forever and now seem so long ago.

So cry if you need to, just be sure to do it out of your child’s sight so you don’t make them anxious or *gasp* embarrass them. 

Trust Them

Parenting is all about preparing for these moments.

Our goal as parents is to teach our children how to function without us. We teach them how to behave like (somewhat) civilized people, we teach them how to be safe, how to watch out for themselves and achieve goals.

You have put in all the hard work correcting behavior and teaching them lessons. Now it is time to trust in them and your parenting. To trust that they will be okay because they can do this without you (which is a GOOD thing).

This Is One Small Step of Many 

The road of a mother is filled with many small steps away from us.

In the beginning they need us for everything. Then they learn to walk and understand that they are separate from us. They head off to kindergarten and take another step away.

Before you know it they are headed off to college (*sob*) and then one day they start lives and families of their own.

It’s hard but it is necessary to allow them to grow on their own. To allow them to take small steps away from us while knowing we are always here to run back to when they need it.

So here I sit, my phone out and on ring just in case he should need me.

Contemplating how hard this motherhood thing can be, this is after all just one more step away from me in a long walk filled with so many more.

I hope he flies, I hope he soars, I

hope he listens and implements all the lessons I have tried so hard to instill,

I hope when he stumbles I can pad his fall.

More than anything I hope that I can find a way to know when I need to hold him close and know when to gracefully let him go so he can fly.