Learning to Let Go

A few years ago, I watched a young child, in a high chair, open her hand, and let her baby spoon fall to the floor. After the spoon fell away, the child made a gleeful sound. The child's mother picked up the spoon, handed it back to the child, and smiled.

Subsequently, the child dropped the spoon, again.. That time, the mother did not smile. She frowned and said, "No, Sarah!" In the next round, the mother said, "If you drop your spoon, again, I will take it away from you." The child dropped it. "Bad girl," said the Mother and took the spoon away.

The mother, of course, had grown tired of the game called "Drop the spoon." I wished the mother had not become angry, but had said in a light voice, "Playtime is over, for now, Sarah!" The child's act was not one of naughtiness, but was a new skill she had found within herself, and was delighting in.

In life, we learn to pick up and to let go. We learn to let go, and quickly, of a piece of toast that is too hot. We pick up and enjoy a cat whose claws are hidden, and let go quickly if claws become extended.

As we mature, there comes a time even in sorrow, when we have to let go of painful memories and of times that will not come again.

If we adults would have peace of mind, we have to let go of the heavy burden of anger, or an unforgiving heart.

For some of the time, if we adults are to live happily with others in society, and if others, are to live comfortably with us, we have to let go, for some of the time, of needing to have our own way.

Before a toddler can learn the skill of letting go of emotions that may not be helpful: frequent anger, for example, the child of that age has lessons to learn in the physical realm of bodily functions.

If a game of catch is at hand, we adults appreciate an older child's ability to let go of the ball in order to throw it. Sometimes we may not understand that the dropping of a spoon by a toddler, is a further example of that same wonderful skill.

Marylee Manson Armour, 1973. (Nursery School teacher) Surfaced again, in August, 2006.