Tuesday, June 13, 2017
The Cost of Independence
I struggle to find the balance of helping B with things that are hard and pushing him to do things for himself. Some of that struggle is purely selfish. If I do it, it's done correctly with very little mess. But there's no learning or growing there for B.
B is definitely a maker. He's forever making things. At least once a week he wants to set up a stand in front of the house to sell things he's made. Last week, B went to art camp and made some awesome things.
The first day of art camp I was at the allergist with Zac so Sam took B, but Zac and I picked him up. When the art teacher brought him to the car she mentioned how much they enjoyed the cheese toast B brought to camp for everyone. I smiled and said "Oh great!" but I had no idea what she was talking about.
As we drove off B told me he had made grilled cheese for his friends at art camp. I thought Sam had made him some sandwiches on the griddle and let it go. When we got home and there was no dirty griddle, I had to investigate more.
Turns out that B had made the grilled cheese sandwiches himself while Sam was upstairs getting dressed. In the toaster. My shiny new toaster. Not a toaster oven. An actual stand up toaster.
I was irritated at first but then I was proud of B. He had fixed himself some lunch and thought enough of his friends to fix them some as well.
We did have a conversation about toaster safety, what you can put in the toaster and what you can't. We also enacted a new rule that you can't use the toaster without someone in the kitchen with you.
There's always a price to pay for independence. If you're lucky, it's just a toaster.
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