Walking Your Path With You

There’s an old-school idea about parenting that we probably all recognize from shows or movies we watch. It’s like taking your kids for a hike in the woods. Parent is forging the path and kids are expected to follow exactly in parent’s footsteps and not wander off the identified course. Parent is the leader, kid is the follower and, in those roles, parent makes all the decisions and kid just obeys. It’s set up for a lot of disappointment when a kid gets curious or wants to go a different direction than the clear road of parent footsteps/expectations.

I was sketching this photo of my husband and sons and thinking about what a different approach to parenting this is compared to the first idea. In this situation, the kid is on their own journey, even a step ahead, leading out. The parent is next to them, supporting them, loving them, making sure they’re safe but without the heavy hand of “you’d better meet my expectations” or trying to control the kid. The path belongs to the child and the parent will walk with them wherever it takes, full of curiosity, openness and, most of all, love.

I sketched this a month ago and haven’t been able to get the image out of my head. Sometimes I feel like I learn my greatest life lessons when I have a pencil/paintbrush in my hand.

[“Walking Your Path With You”]