Allowing a child to grow by conquering parents’ fears

Witness the incredible growth of a young superhero as a child to grow by conquering parents’ fears! 

Early childhood is marked by rapid changes in development. However, within those years, there are also smaller windows of time when children make even greater rates of improvements across all facets of development in a short period of time. These windows are often open for 1-2 weeks at a time.

One particular child recently went through such a period of rapid growth and made significant improvements in communication skills, social skills and cognitive ability. Perhaps more importantly, there also appeared to be an increased level of maturity. 

That is where our story begins this month.

During that period of rapid growth, his daycare had organised an excursion to the local library which involved walking 1km from the childcare centre to the local library. However, his parents turned down the permission slip.

This was completely justified as the boy was a flight risk and also had a history of putting himself in danger. Despite this, the boy’s therapist strongly believed that the child not only would have loved to see all the books in the library but was also ready to go on the excursion without putting himself in harm’s way.

Over the course of two conversations with the boy’s therapist, his parents reiterated their concerns about their child’s readiness for the excursion and were resolute in not allowing the boy to attend even though safety precautions would have been in place.

The day before the excursion, the parents informed the child’s therapy team that he will be attending the excursion after all. This decision to let their child attend the excursion was a highly significant moment for the parents. They would have needed to overcome their own fears and place their trust in their child to remain safe during the excursion – a child who had previously run away from them at a fair and had jumped into a swimming pool fully clothed without knowing how to swim. It was a courageous decision that many parents in their situation would not have made.

Thankfully, the boy was well behaved throughout the excursion and loved flicking through all the books in the library. None of the fears and concerns that the parents materialised. In fact, the parents were ecstatic to see their child engage safely and appropriately in a public space.

This Superhero Moment is a great reminder to all of us that, from time to time, children will outgrow our perception of them and it is up to us to keep up with them.

This inspiring moment reminds us that children can outgrow our perceptions, and it’s our role to support and trust in their growth.

Let’s celebrate this remarkable superhero and the parents’ bravery in embracing his potential!