Week 47 {Independence}

In my personal world as a mother a concern/challenge for me lately has been how to teach Maelee independence. I do my best to set her up for success, get her started on a toy and walk away, encourage & cheer when I see her initiate something herself, followed the advice of all of my "books" but I had my sweet girl still pulling me by the hand or asking me to help her every minute of the day it seemed. Don't get me wrong, I realize its part of the Mom gig to have this challenge (and I do realize one day I will be wishing, hoping and pleading that my only challenge with Maelee is pocket pulling, and I do my best to enjoy it - but I still had to make dinner, make phone calls to the insurance company, etc.) Veteran mother's told me that independence was more about maturity and age than actually something that is taught. So when one day I found myself making dinner without my curly haired side kick pulling on my pockets I turned at a "ta da" from Maelee to see this - A tall stack of very old soup cans (not sure why I keep these around since it really has nothing to do with my food storage, I guess it just makes my down stairs pantry look fuller) built all by herself! I was over joyed and very proud. So was Maelee. Here's to you gaining independence, I know one day I'll wish my Maelee depended on me a little more - but for now having you around for 10 minutes during dinner preparation is fantastic!