She's growing up...

I'm starting to let go.....

I'm entering that stage where a little independence is being sought...

This month my little girl turns eleven. (Eleven?? That can't be right!)

Through circumstance not choice she is an only child and she is crazy precious in my world - no understatement.

Lately she has begun to move away from being wholly dependent on her parents to quite rightly finding some space to test herself. I'm not talking anything dramatic here - no throwing her out of the car on the top of the mountain with nothing but a compass type of testing!

Just the stuff that I used to do at her age. Walk to a friend's house, take a dog for a walk or go to a shop with a friend. Yet now that she's doing it - it's different.

This is nothing new. I'm sure most parents ponder on the freedom versus safety issue. Protection versus helicopter parenting...?

I rely heavily on gut instinct coupled with a tendency to err on caution in my parenting style. As a result Sibs has probably been sheltered from pushing these freedom boundaries. She is the youngest in her school year and in her groups of friends and she's feeling the need to catch up.

I'm grateful that she has a cousin who is a few weeks apart in age from her.  A boy cousin. They love spending time together and I can see the huge learning that they subconsciously share. He toughens her up and she softens him.

So I'm slowly...very slowly... letting her do her own little bit of exploring. She's relishing and embracing the opportunity. She needs these skills to manage life and I'm here to help her find them.

There will be big lessons I'm sure... for both of us! 

Go Sibsy girl!