"You can't cry for 'em
Live and die for "em
You can help them find their wings, but you can't fly for 'em
'Cause if they're not free to fall, then they're not free at all
An though you just can't bare the though of letting go
You pick 'em up
You dust ‘em off
And send ‘em on down the road."
                         - Garth Brooks "Send 'Em Down the Road"
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          I heard this song on the radio the other day for the very first time (which is crazy because I am a HUGE Garth Brooks fan) and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I'm literally listening to it on repeat as I write this and I'd be lying if I said I haven't shed a tear or two listening to it because it just spoke so strongly to me. No matter what stage of childhood your child is in - an infant learning to roll over or crawl, a toddler learning to walk and discover new things, a preschooler learning about the ins and outs of making and losing friends, an adolescent going through the ups and downs of their first love and first heartbreak, a new graduate who you just sent off to their first year of college or perhaps you have grown children now - it doesn't matter because your child(ren) will always be your baby/babies.

In my last post, I touched on the topic of consistency. Today, I want to dive deeper and really talk about it because consistency truly is the key to so many parenting struggles. Children are super smart and catch on extremely quickly. Sometimes this is a good thing (such as when they observe someone putting on shoes and realize that shoes go on feet, not hands), and sometimes it works against us as parents (such as when you are too tired to discipline Tommy for hitting his brother and now he realizes that he can sometimes get away with naughty behavior).  The latter example is exactly why consistency in expectations and discipline is crucial to building strong foundations for your children.