Image: Flickr/Chris Hunkeler

“A little less worry over the child and a bit more concern about the world we make for the child to live in.” (Adolph Meyer)

A child’s world begins in his home and stretches forward beyond the horizon. Whatever we do to shape that world will, eventually, shape our child. Of course, shaping the world out there is a daunting task. It’s much easier to turn our attention to something closer at hand and attempt to control that.

But easier isn’t often better.

Spending so much time fretting over the minute details of your child’s life while neglecting the world in which that child will live is a bit like carefully tending a beautiful rose and then plopping it down in a toxic waste dump. No matter how carefully you’ve fed and pruned the flower, it has no chance to survive — let alone thrive.

Instead, trust that your child has it within him to be strong and spend some of your time and energy tending the soil beyond your home so that he can really flourish in the long-run.