What springs to mind when you think of the word “grow?”
As a parent, there is a good chance you might think back to the teeny baby you held in your arms at the hospital and marvel at the fact they have developed into a much taller, more independent version of themselves seemingly overnight.
It might bring to mind doctors’ appointments where you asked a medical professional if your little one should be crawling or walking or talking yet. Perhaps you recall telling your child to get down off their tippy toes as you marked their height on the chart in your kitchen. Maybe it’s the (now forced) photo you take of your child on the front step every first day of school with their brand-new backpack and fresh-out-of-the-box shoes.
These are obvious examples, but we all experience growth well past the time our bodies have stopped getting taller and far after we have surpassed all the expected developmental milestones.
One could argue that some of the most significant growth in an adult’s life comes after they have a child, and it is up to them to guide their kid through every step of their developmental journey.
When it is in our hands to ensure our child grows and develops into a healthy adult, we expand our horizons and learn more than we ever have. In our quest to help them grow, we advance our own knowledge vastly.
I often feel like my nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son have already taught me more than I will ever teach them.
Whether you are adding a new member to your family, growing a garden, building confidence with a new sport, expanding your skills by learning to play an instrument or taking steps to eat healthier, you develop with your kids. You can’t help it and you wouldn’t want to.
Growth is a mindset, but it is also a wonderful inevitability. We live, we learn, we grow—together.
– Stacie Gaetz
