Space is the greatest gift we can give to our children. Space to be themselves, space to explore on their own, space to learn, space to grow, space to embrace and express all their emotions, space to love, space to fall, space to make mistakes, and space to spread their wings.
This week while we were enjoying our weekly Timbernook class, I saw my son walking ahead of me with a group of adults that were mere strangers to him. Some part of me wanted to remind him to “Slow down” and say, “Wait for me”. I realized those concerns were coming from my deep-rooted fears. Fear of losing him, fear of him getting hurt, fear of not being able to protect this perfect little person. Being a mother is overwhelming; on one hand, we want our children to be outgoing, confident, resilient, and social, and then wanting to protect them from everything at the same time. As I let go of my fear, I could really enjoy watching him being independent, brave, courageous, adventurous, and absolutely at peace with himself. He didn’t care who was with him, if he walked funny, if people liked him, or if he looked a certain way. He was happy collecting acorns in his walk and listening to the storybook being told by the teacher. He was completely present at that moment.
Giving space to our children is sometimes hard for us as we grew up with the idea of parents own their children. How wrong was that idea? How wrong were our parents to think that they own us? At that moment, as I saw my son walking confidently with the group of children, I truly understood the meaning of “My child came through me, he is not mine or a thing that I can own.” I am just a carrier to bring this wonderful, precious being to this planet. He was already someone before he met me. How naïve of me to think that I am supposed to do anything other than to follow him!
I really believe space is the best thing we can give to our children to blossom. Space on this planet to stay who they are. They don’t need to be anything else but themselves; the most perfect, beautiful, miraculous, and enlightened beings on this planet are our children.
Truly Montessori 