In Robin Retrospect! :)

I heard a true story about how a man was observing a mother bird with her young. He noticed that the babies were getting older, and when she got a worm, they came running to her side to be fed! To his amazement, she waited for them to approach before quickly swallowing the worm! This happened several times! She'd get the worm, they'd come running, and then she ate it herself! Soon they caught on that if they wanted a worm, they needed to watch what she did, and develop the skill of obtaining food for themselves! :)

This was a good mother! She knew the greatest gifts she could give her young were the skills to do for themselves, as they became old enough to develop independence! :)

As the man watched it occurred to him that this same process also applies to us, in many ways! When our little ones are small we do everything for them, and as they grow, we begin to teach them how to do things for themselves! It would be a disservice to them to continue to hand feed them when we should be teaching them the joys of developing skills and independence for themselves! :)

At some point, a good mother knows her little one will no longer be little, and she must be about training this child the skills to fly on it's own! :)

There was a mother I knew who had a son with downs' (sp.?), and she worked patiently, teaching him how to catch the city bus, take it to a place of business, and return home! They did this together for a couple of years. This training took time! Eventually, he was hired in town, and was able to take the bus to work and back by himself! He was proud of his accomplishments and greatly valued his independence! :)

I suppose one of the hardest things a mother can do is watch her child fly away! Yet the blessings of knowing that child is able to be successful on their own is invaluable!! :)

No sparrow falls to the ground that the Lord isn't aware! The greatest thing I've tried to teach my kids, is whether I'm in this world, or progressed on, - they always have Someone to turn to, Who is always as close as a prayer! :)