There are so many things I said before I had my daughter that were absolutely ridiculous, in my Motherhood Hindsight glasses.

For example, I used to think to myself, "Why are you holding your child? That's what the cart is for. That's what her car-seat is for." Well ya know what? Sometimes these silly little things want to be held. By you and only you.

You know what else I said? "I really don't want to baby-proof my house. I'll just teach her what to do and what not to do." Are you laughing at me? I'm laughing at me.

AB had zero interest in crawling. I mean, zero. She was very interested, however, in standing up using either my or her dad's fingers for support. She would put her hands up in the air, we provided our index fingers, she'd grab a hold and pull herself right up.

I'm sure, based on the title of this post, you know where this is going.

At a certain point, AB figured out how to do that pull-myself-up thing with the laundry basket we kept her in if were showering or cleaning. We put toys in there, don't worry. It was to prevent injury. And it worked pretty well, until... hands on side, pull up, wobble wobble wobble, pfushsfh... first face plant with teeth = first bloody lip. The first of many, I assume.

Every step of our child's independence is a tug-of-war between a victory dance and wanting to pull the emergency cord on a bullet train. We want our children to advance, grow, learn, and become independent. But they're bloodied along the way, and our Mom Hearts want to protect them from all that hurt.

Ay. This is good practice for AB as she grows into what we hope is a thoughtful, independent, faithful, joyful young girl. She'll have to learn eventually that bumps and bruises are part of the process. It's good practice for moi, too, as I don't let those bumps and bruises get the best of me. I want - and need - to teach her that those bumps and bruises lead to important lessons learned and character earned.

I'll do my best to catch her when she falls, but I know I won't always make it. But, baby girl, I do promise to always be there on the way back up.