Kite Flying

I once read or heard someone say that parenting is a lot like flying a kite. Little by little you let out the string and little by little the kite soars higher and higher. I thought that a good analogy and have not forgotten it since.

I have watched many parents (myself included) slowly let out a little of that line and anxiously wait to see how their child will handle the higher altitude. It isn't always easy to watch them dive and flip but the joy of seeing him or her right themselves is wonderful to say the least.

I have also seen parents of older children refuse to let the line loose; as though holding on to a kite that is fighting to be free is better than trusting you did the best you could and now is their time to soar. Of course I am not there yet and can only hope and pray that when that day arrives I will let loose of the line and smile knowing my job of raising them is complete but I am still here to advise, pray and hold them if need be.

My first big letting go of some line happened this week. My son is attending his first ever camp. It is a day camp (3 days) and teaches them the basics of horse riding, etc. To top it all off he is spending the nights with his grandparents so for me it is as though he were at an all-nighter camp. He is away from me for 3 long nights and 3 long days. I can honestly say I am doing fine and that he is as well. I am very proud of my little guy. This kind of thing is way out of his comfort zone...being away from home, not horses.

Parenting is a lot like flying a kite; though there are times when I wish it were more like fishing! You hold on to string for dear life. You wait for some wind (knowledge, growth) and you slowly let it go higher and wait some more. And then next thing you know your child will be so ready to fly away that you will feel a tug on the line and realize that you have reached the end. May it be that when we reach the end of the line, we can let it go knowing full well that we trained "a child in the way he should go" so that "when he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)