Fearless

Although it's hard to tell from this picture, I swear that this climbing feature was at least 20 feet high.  At least it seemed that high to me when Miss Cheeks zoomed up to the top and took off running toward the slide. She leaps and laughs in the face of playground injuries.  I can only gather that her acrobatics stem, in part, from a desire to keep up with her big sister.

Whenever I go to the playground with the girls, I try to make a point of stepping back and letting them play.  It's too easy to hover. 

Obviously, when there is a real potential for danger we have the responsibility to be there for our children, but I do believe that an important part of good parenting means allowing your kids to explore and test their limits.  Scraped knees and bumped heads are the inevitable collateral damage. 

And,  if I'm being honest, that climbing feature was maybe only five feet high.  And I was right there.. But you know what Cheeks did after she flung herself down the nearest slide? She climbed it again.  And again.