Helicopter Moments

So I had one of those moments where I discovered my boundaries as a mother. These are never pleasant moments. It is much like moving at a fast speed toward a brick wall only to discover moments before you hit the wall, that your brakes do not work. OUCH! Without giving many details, I really mess up the situation that I should not have been involved with in the first place. Fortunately, another mother who I really think had compassion on me because she had probably been in that same situation with her own children, took pity on me and repaired the damage I had done.

This got me to wondering why it was that I had behaved in such a way that I actually had a helicopter moment. For those of you who are new to this concept, this is when as a mother you actually attempt to alter those events in your children's lives that you deem as "fixable". Those moments in time when you hover about your child, audibly shouting at those who pass by, "Step
away from the child!" Or something like that. I unfortunately have these moments frequently. I think that for some reason I have to make life better, smoother, more comfortable, desirable, easy, etc for my offspring. Only usually I make it worse.

And that was my epiphany this week. I can attempt to move mountains to make the pathway smoother for my children only to find out that they could have easily taken a different path that would have been less complicated for them and less painful for me. I don't have to make it all better. I just have to be their mother. The job requirement does not mean that any mountains have to be moved or any situations fixed necessarily, I just have to love them. And since I am sure that in my efforts to love them, occassionally I will have to smooth the edges once in a while.

Now STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD:)