Five “Dangerous” Things You Kids Should Learn To Do

playing

As parents our number one goal in life is to keep our kids healthy, safe and protected. We want them to live the longest, happiest and most successful lives in the world, and that means protecting them from all that could hurt them. It’s something that you can’t do forever and you are well aware of this, but you will try your hardest anyway. It’s just a thing that parents do. However, not everything in life is worth fighting for your child. If you do not allow them the freedom to do what they have to do to learn, they will never experience the things that teach them the most about life. You have to, occasionally, let your kids do things you might consider dangerous. We’re not talking about meeting people online or staying alone for the weekend at 7, but there are some ‘dangerous’ things that parents need to let their kids try to experience.

Climb Trees

Your first inclination is to stop them and make them get down, but you should not do that. Let them do it. Let them climb the tree, explore and be a kid. If they fall down and get hurt, it’s okay – unless they fall from a high branch, but don’t let them get too high and don’t let them climb unsupervised.

Cut Food with a Real Knife

Using real knives is very important to kids. They have to learn. Of course, they should do this with adequate adult supervision, but they do have to learn. You do not need a teenager that’s still waiting on you to cut up her chicken for her.

Cry because They are Angry or Hurt

When kids are mad or hurt or angry, let them cry. It’s not your job to stop them from feeling. You might think it’s dangerous for them to feel hurt emotionally for long periods of time, but it’s not. They’re fine. They need to learn to toughen up and be brave.

Fall Down

Kids fall, and you can’t stop it. So let it happen. The faster it does happen, the less likely they will be to make the same mistake again in the future. Kids are pretty resilient, and they will get better at what they do. Let them fall down. It teaches them to pick themselves back up again.

Swing from the Monkey Bars

Monkey bars – or jumping on the trampoline or running in the driveway – are very symbolic. They’re a little bit scary and dangerous, and something could happen that might not make your kids feel good. But you should let them. It’s a rite of passage.

Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0