That gap between loving them in a protective cocoon and letting them experience the struggles and hardships of life is so hard for parents.  Even a butterfly has to leave that protective cocoon and fly.
Parents are often told

* they are overprotective.
* It’s not good.
* Do different.

There’s a lot of fear around what might happen to our children that leads to being overprotective; some of it is genuine fear and some caught fear. This school aged time is a good time to address taking risk issues in an age-appropriate way. There’s a lot of time for easy, gently progress with a few bumps along the way.
This show we give you the resources to do differently. We talk about HOW not be an overprotective parent so that we continue to nurture our children. AND  WHAT to do to let them grow. They need to learn how to take risks, manage risks and we need to learn to let them.  It’s not our job to eliminate failure and disappointment. This is a school age edition.
Listen in for 7 things we can do to stop overprotecting and letting them grow with your school aged children.
Leave a comment below or on a voicemail about your whole family system.
Raising Playful Tots – the podcast for parents who want to make the most of their playtime and enjoy simple parenting
Click the play button above and let’s get some ideas
Show notes
00:00   Introduction to Why I teach children to manage risks instead of shielding them from every hazard
02:04  What we can do about reducing overprotecting and letting them grow
02:12  First practical thing we can do to let our children grow without overly protecting them.
Resources: Society of Nimble Parents
03:24 The second practical thing we can do to let our children grow without overly protecting them.
Resources: Parent’s guide to transitioning from doing the packed lunch
08:41 Teach them what to do in tough situations is the third practical thing we can do to let our children grow without overly protecting them.
Resources: 10 Questions to ask your child instead of “What was your grade?”
Resources: Character Conversation Cards
Resources: Handy Conversation Starters that get real conversation
Pinterest board full of Conversation starters on a range of topics and types

16:08  Restricting independence unnecessarily is the fourth practical thing we can do to let our children grow without overly protecting them.

Resource: Start with teaching kindness online with Galit Breen   
What is Low risk independence?
21:24  the fifth practical thing we can do to let our children grow without overly protecting them.