I’m sure many of you have heard of the book Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy.

It has proven to be quite the controversial book. Many people have criticized it because of it’s lackadaisical approach at parenting. I’ll be honest. I would NOT let my kids ride the subway alone. I know there are things that my kids need to experience and there are things that can really only be learned by those experiences, but I have to draw the line at knowingly putting my child in a situation where they can get hurt or taken advantage of.

As moms it’s our job to keep our children safe. We take our job very seriously. My only problem is finding that line when we become too over protective and end up almost sheltering our children from their world. Don’t get me wrong, there are some things about our world that I would much rather my kids become aware of at a much later age. And I will try my hardest to make sure that that happens, I just don’t want to rob them of precious childhood experiences in the process.

What’s my point?

I’ve taken my first step.

My son is 6 years old. No, he doesn’t know a lot about responsibility. I’ve pretty much sucked in that department. But the kid knows what fun is. I’ve always tried to limit his playing outside to the backyard or to the sidewalk right in front of our house and only when the hubs or I are out there.

Recently, my son met a boy up the street who is his age. Like boys often do, they hit it off immediately and it wasn’t long before I started getting asked every 5 minutes if he could go play with his buddy. After a few days of walking there with him and supervising the play I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to give my son responsibility AND let him experience the open range.

The next day when my son asked to go outside and ride bikes with his buddy I told him yes and that I wouldn’t be going with him.

At first he was a little hesitant. This was something new and I don’t think he thought I was being serious. I told him there were a few conditions though. He was not to leave the street that his buddy lives on and he had to check in every 30 minutes. I know what you’re thinking. He’s 6. He has problems remembering he has to go to the bathroom let alone when 30 minutes have passed.

Well, enter a new fandangled invention called the watch.

I simply set the alarm on the watch for 30 minutes from the time he left and told him that if he failed to report home that I would come and get him and his playtime would be over.

The excitement on his face was evident. Before my eyes I saw my son blossom under this new sense of ownership.

I watched him walk up our hill and around the corner; I said a quick prayer that this experience wouldn’t be tainted for either of us.

Once he was out of eyesight I went into the house and started doing chores to keep from obsessing. I watched the clock like a hawk and when the 30 minutes passed I started pacing. After 32 minutes I was getting my shoes on to walk up the hill and then the door opened and there was my boy. All sweaty from riding his bike and pointing at the watch.

I was so proud of him for following through!

He asked if he could play some more so I reset the watch and sent him on his way. For 3 hours my son played outside and every 32 minutes he was walking in the door to check in.

Am I ready to send him to the park by himself? No, not yet. Especially since the closest park is about mile from our house. But I am taking this as a small victory in not only his independence but the developing trust I have in him.

My son graduated from Kindergarten today.

I know it’s not that big of a deal. It’s really just a ceremony in which they essentially get a participation award. This is how I felt going into today. But then I walked in and received a program for the festivities I saw that each of the 9 kids in his class had several different types of solo’s. This was unlike any other graduation I had attended. His teacher set out to showcase each of the kids’ strengths in their academics.

Some kids read, others recited poems, and some spoke in spanish.

I didn’t realize how emotional I would get, but then it’s hard not to when you are confronted with this.

Again I am faced with my first born growing up. My heart seriously swelled as I watched him up on that stage. There was my little boy growing into a young man. His love and knowledge of God astounds me and I feel truly blessed that we were able to have him go to a Christian school this year.

During the school year he learned and memorized over 30 verses from the bible. That’s over 28 more than I know. He is slowly developing a love for reading which has been nurtured by an amazing teacher. A teacher who presented each student with a bible today.

As I type this my son is sitting at my little work table working in his school workbook. Something I’m sure took persuading in class but now he does willingly because he wants to send it to his teacher to show her he finished. That type of teacher is priceless.

Blessings abound here today. And with that I close my computer and enjoy the first day of summer break.

One thing every mother can agree on is that there are so many moments in motherhood that bring tears to our eyes. None of us can probably sit down and write out every single time a tear came to our eye while watching our children, but there are some that stick out and bring back a myriad of images to your mind.

• When you first lay eyes on your child.
• Seeing him/her smile for the first time.
• Hearing “Mama” for the first time.
• Your child taking their first steps.

All the normal milestones.

For me though, it’s the milestones that seem to be off the beaten path. Seeing my kids accomplish something that I loved as a child and can relate to now is more priceless than anything I can think of.

Tonight one of those milestones occurred.

See, I started reading at the age of 5. I was a bit of a geek, I know. But I loved books and wanted to read so badly that all it took was a bit of help and I was off and flipping the pages. So tonight, when at the age of 5, my son read his first sentence I cried. I had tears streaming down my face looking at how proud he was of himself. This is one moment that I will NEVER forget.

What was the most recent moment your kids made you cry?