July 26, 2024

Yesterday, my children wanted to go to the playground. I informed them that it was going to rain soon (scattered showers) and that if we went, they would not be able to play that long before it started raining. They still wanted to go, especially my 5y. And rightly so! They hadn’t been out to a playground in almost a week. Thankfully the playground was right across the street from my mother’s house. Walking to it, we felt a few drips. Not even being there for 3 minutes, it started. I was able to convince my 5y to bring her umbrella but was unsuccessful in bringing one myself, and she didn’t want to run back in the house to grab mine.

 So as it rained, we sat under a patio. I had a “I told ya so” on the tip of my tongue but resisted the urge to say it. Jade is trying to keep Ivory from running in the rain with the stroller and is holding the umbrella over her sister’s head whenever she’s tempted. Then we see a man walking in the rain, and he walks under the patio and stands with us for a bit. The girls say hello and Ivory says something to him in her mumble language. Then as quickly as he came, he left saying “bye” and Jade turns to ask me, “Why is that man walking in the rain?” to which I responded, “Because he’s not afraid to get wet.” Come to find out later that Jade was afraid of getting struck by lighting because I told her it was a possibility but very rare and that some people have gotten struck by lighting and some have lived and some have died.

After watching the man walk away in the pouring rain, both of my girls then played in the rain, on the playground equipment having the most fun. They weren’t afraid of getting wet after seeing someone else conquer the rain. And the whole time, I let them make their own decisions, from coming to the playground right before the rain, to playing in the rain, to leaving when the sun was shining.

But that led me to thinking, how many adventures, opportunities, lifetime moments do we miss out on because we’re afraid of walking in the rain, of getting wet because of a rare chance that tragedy can happen? How often do we stand in the way of our children having fun and learning because of an inconvenience for us? My girls were soaked and had the most fun for the 2 hours we were there, 45 minutes of rain. And while we were leaving, behold, a muddy puddle! The girls quickly took of their shoes to run through the fresh puddle ecstatic. And I just watched.

And do you know what happened? The girls tired themselves out. After bathing them when getting back to my mother’s house, Ivory took a 3 hour nap and Jade rested on the bed. What did it cost me? A moment of laundry and bathing them. All I did was watch them play and make sure they were safe.

NOTE: After reading this on February 25, 2026, I still agree with the above realization and honestly needed a reminder to not be so controlling and to let the children make decisions. They learn better when they experience someone as opposed to being told what is going to happen.