It's tough
being a parent. You're torn between
wanting to hold on to your children for dear life, and knowing deep down inside
that you have to let them go. And while
I don't consider myself to be a helicopter parent, I might have a little
problem giving my kid the space she needs to grow. Maybe I'm like a Ninja parent, I give my kid
space, but I'm in the shadows ready with that can of “Whup Ass” if
necessary. So when it was time for her
to start school let’s just say I wasn't ready, okay I was nervous as hell. Like full on panic attack mode burst into
tears at any moment nervous. I had to
give myself a pep talk like "c’mon son, you grew up in Harlem, in the 80's,
during the crack era, you are tougher than this!!!"
It's crazy
what the love of a child does to your heart.
It fills it so much you think it's going to burst, It's like a full on
Fred Sanford clutching your chest heart attack every damn day, but it's also the most wonderful experience
you will ever have, and yes I know how crazy that sounds, but it's the truth.
I blame
time. Yes, the actual minutes, hours, seconds of our lives, because they go
from crawling, to walking, to talking, and running and running and runn...you
get what I mean, in a blink. It's so
fast, and yes I know it's a necessary part of life, but it doesn’t mean I have
to like it…
So as we
walked up to her school, me holding my tears, her holding my hand, I was reminded
of all the times I was nervous about her doing something for the first
time. The first time she rode her bike,
the first time she went swimming, and do you know what I realized? It always
works out. I'm over here about to go
into a full on wall side in her school hallway, and she's playing patty cake
with her new classmates. She’ll be okay,
and I will be too.
Right?
