I would like to dedicate this post to Mario, an Italian boy we met on vacation in Dominican Republic a few months ago. There will be another post about Mario’s hair, but that’s a whole separate issue.
So, Mario was vacationing at the same resort as us with his Mom and Dad. The resort was pretty big, with a couple of pools and restaurants. My friends and I followed our children everywhere, sat by the baby pools, got their food at the buffet, made sure they ate it, watched their every move, and were “relaxing” as much as possible.
Mario’s parents were a little different. Now, as I mentioned before, they were from Italy. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, or it’s just their parenting style. 5-year old Mario was on his own. He went to the restaurant by himself, got himself a meal at the buffet, ate. He would roam the resort, he would go to the Kid’s club, pool, playground. Mario was free as a bird. We were shocked and appalled… But also a little jealous.
Mario didn’t get into any trouble, he was completely self-sufficient and happy. He knew every resort worker’s name. He did his own thing while his parents looked fresh and relaxed.
I don’t know how his parents got to be so confident in their child, and how he got to be so independent. I would be curious to find out if he does grocery shopping back home, makes his parents dinner and folds the laundry.
I do know that our obsessive parenting can’t be all that beneficial either. But how can we stop? Where do we draw the line and let our kids be free? I think I’ll be sitting by that pool watching Misha’s every move until he is 27.
Leave a comment