Parenting is a tricky thing. The moment that child is born you're smacked with an intense sense of responsibility for them. When I was pregnant the first time, a friend told me that it's like having your heart walking outside of your body. (In my case, he's running full tilt.) There's excitement, hope, fear, anxiety, and a unending cocktail of emotions that never seem to let up. We all handle it differently. I do not want to be a helicopter parent, but I do want to keep them safe. Personally, finding the balance between holding on and protecting them, and letting them and risk getting hurt or worse, is hard sometimes.
For me personally, it comes down to understanding the risks. What we don't understand scares us, so I try to be involved and learn as much as I can, so I can help him, and soon my daughter.
Here's a video of the hill climbing yesterday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxG9Sdmf7W4&feature=youtu.beWhat I loved about it was:
1. He did it.
2. He didn't let the other kids fears influence his own.
3. I had a chance to talk to him about not being the peer pressure guy. The other kids said they didn't want to do it and he should respect that.
4. The other parents handled it well.
5. They all ended up playing in the creek together for a hour or so once he came down from the hill