The Great Paradox of Parenting: Protecting vs Preparing

Single parents trying to create a stable home life when everything seems out of control can sometimes seep into over-protecting and overcompensating for our kids. Learning to balance our responsibility as parents and sheltering too much can be challenging. And as they grow older, the process of letting go of our day-to-day micro-oversight is even harder. Questions like “what if this happens? or what if that happens?” can begin to cripple us. Basically, fear can cause us to overcompensate with a desire to protect.  Helping our kids get their own confidence and become who they are supposed to be requires 'taking off the training' wheels sort of speak sometimes. Whether your kids are 2 or 22, the process of letting go and trusting God can be so hard.  This is perhaps the greatest paradox of parenting. On the one hand, parents are—and need to be—deeply attached to and invested in their children. On the other hand, a primary task of parenting is to prepare children to take responsibility for their own lives and let them go, so they become who God created THEM to be. On this episode Robert Beeson, Kimberley Mitchell and Elizabeth Cole explore ways to avoid overprotecting and let go of what is needed to prepare our kids as they grow older.  For the detailed show notes, tips and links visit SoloParentSociety.com Receive a free SPS Welcome Toolkit with links to groups, info and a free book. Join our daily meditational devotional Download our free app - APPLE | ANDROID