One day many years ago, when my first baby was not quite three years old, we were visiting my cousin's family at their home in North Carolina. Travis had been enjoying playing in their big back yard and was especially fascinated by the discovery of a pile of logs back in the corner. He climbed all over that small pile and had the time of his little life out there while I, his nervous mommy, sat at the window and watched him from inside. I kept suggesting to Jimmy that we go and tell Travis to find another place to play because surely it wasn't safe for him to be climbing like that, but Jimmy kept insisting that he would be fine. Growing more and more anxious by the second, I finally said, "But what if he falls?!", to which Jimmy replied, "He'll be fine and it will be good for him." I learned right then and there that I was going to have to toughen up if I was going to be a successful mother of boys.
Since then, not only has that little boy has gotten bigger and more adventurous, but we've added a few more boys (and a pretty spunky little girl) right behind him. That lesson that I "learned" that day when he was three has had to be re-learned over and over again as those boys have needed to test their wings. Today the lesson came in the form of giving them the freedom to climb the tree without shouting at them to, "Be careful!" (even if I'm praying it in my head!). Before I can even blink my eyes, the lesson will come in the form of them driving down the road without me or heading off to college.
So I guess when I think about it, we're really all testing our wings together in different ways.

Testing their wings by climbing just a little bit higher this time joy...

sam on the left, caroline on the right