Are you over-parenting your child?
It’s something I thought about a lot before Cassie came into the world. As a nanny, I would see other parents hovering over their children at the playground, helicoptering them on the equipment and stopping them climbing on anything too tall or too tricky. It often made me cringe. I thought back to the broken arm I got when I was eight years old after diving off some play equipment and the amazing bike rides my brother and I used to take together, with no parents in tow. It was freedom at its best. Sure, times have definitely changed since then and it will be a long time before I give Cassie the freedom to head out on her own, but over-parenting is a real thing and seems to be happening far too often.
There is nothing we love more in our house than a good night’s sleep – and I am sure everyone reading this longs after the same thing. Essentially, it is our parenting end goal – if the girls have a good night then I feel like I can accomplish anything for the day, and I have been lucky enough to be blessed with two angels who started sleeping through from an early age. But our bed is not the sanctuary it once used to be.
Even before they’re born, our children become our whole world. And once they arrive, we instinctively want to protect them and provide them with everything they possibly need. One of those things is a secure future, one in which they are healthy and capable of dealing with anything life throws at them. Here are some of the things you as a parent can do to help them be better prepared for the future.
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