Parenting lessons on a kite flying day.

I see the kite flutter in the wind. Head held high it sways and makes its way to the blue, blue sky. 

It looks happy. It knows it belongs there. 

I zoom out my camera lens a tad bit and I see a hundred more kites joining in together, delighted to be up above the world so high. It’s a breathtaking sight. 

I squint as the sun shines bright but I can’t take my eyes off the hundreds of kites that are dancing to the tune of the wind. 

And I think to myself, kite flying is an art. You can’t hold the string too tight nor too loose. You must know when to pull it back and when to let it go, so that the kite can gracefully spread its wings and make its way to touch the sky. 

A little like parenting, I thought. Isn’t it? You can’t be too strict nor too lenient. You must know when to pull that string and yes when to let it go. 

The wind is going to take your precious kite up, up and away but you hold on to the string so that she doesn’t lose her way.

Show her the direction and then let the wind do its job; but you secretly let the kite know that you’ve got her back. 

Let go a little so that you can witness a breathtaking sight of your kite gracefully finding her way to get her piece of the sky. 

I don’t know how to fly a kite, but I am learning to give my daughter her wings. 
For one day she will also want a big chunk of that blue, blue sky.

Little I didn’t know what a kite was when she woke up this morning. 
And I didn’t know what a kite could teach a mother this morning.