Problem solving: the case of the spilled milk

As a Mom, I have two feelings that war inside me as it relates to my kiddo. He's an only child, likely to stay that way, and so this is my one shot at parenting.

The struggle is this:

Feeling one: He's my little boy and I want to cherish every moment he is young and relies on me (he's 7 right now). He'll grow up so fast and then won't need me.

Feeling two: I need to teach him to solve his own problems and start the journey toward growing up and becoming independent.

I really believe feeling two is the way to go. There seem to be lots of kids who want to be independent early in life and do things on their own. Brady's not one of them.

There were not too many, "Me do it!" statements when he was littler. Even now, at 7, he'd probably be happy to let Mom get him dressed and brush his teeth. Ha!

So it is up to me to encourage his independence whenever I can, even if he doesn't want me to or maybe even if I don't want me to.

But it works! The other day he spilled some milk. He looked at me and said, "I spilled milk!" I said, "Well, go get the wash cloth and clean it up." So he did. I could have even taken it a step further and just said, "Well, what can you do about it?" and let him come up with the solution himself. Note to self: do that next time!

The very next day he was playing on the computer in the back room and I heard him rummaging around in the kitchen. "Watcha doing?" I asked.

"I spilled some milk and I'm cleaning it up."

Yay! He learned. As always, they look to us to teach them how to solve their problems. And if we've done a good job, the next time they solve it on their own.