Fear can start as a mini marshmallow, a tiny pillow of air. Then the minis mound up and I am squaring off with Mr. Stay-Puft, a moving, threatening giant. The fear can take over, larger than life.
In parenting, I do not want to get lost in this soft, sticky, hard-to-stop emotion. I would like to notice the first mini marshmallow. Acknowledge it. Face it. Put it down.
I pray not to see a handful of minis in this teen’s life and immediately build a moving pile. A heap that soon takes form as a towering marshmallow man. May I see a plump, right-sized marshmallow as the thing of campfires and Girl Scout trips--an innocent, snow-white bite of childhood and BBQs, not a monster coming for us. For the teen, and for the family.
My I stay right-sized, the teen stay right-sized, my partner stay right-sized and my fears stay right-sized.
Wikipedia says of Stay-Puft: Although mean and destructive at first, he later befriends Slimer and the Ghostbusters in the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, and helps them out with various problems.
That’s it, that’s all. Food for thought.
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I like this! We want to wrap them in bubble wrap and keep them home, but we have to allow some venturing out of the nest. So hard to balance!
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Thank you NAN :)
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