Protective

There is no question about the fact that Casey and I are very protective of Clay. Overprotective? Maybe to some. The thing is - we want to know where he is, who he is around, what he's doing, how much he's eaten, if he's napped, and so on. That's the parents we are. And we're proud of it, to be honest.

I get told several times a week that we are so protective of him or that we should "loosen up." And to be honest, it's not going to happen. We are going to let him experience life, just with us paying close attention. He will not be deprived of experiences or life lessons, he will just have us there to guide him. That's our job. We want to keep him safe - sure, he will fall down, but he is so young and we want him to be able to stay young for a long time. He doesn't need to grow up yet, he needs to be a little guy.

So, for those of you who ask me on a weekly basis - "have you loosened up yet?" The answer is still no. And it will be no next week and the week after. There will be a time when we let him venture out into this big world by himself, but it will be with the knowledge that we are still close by. He will never walk alone in this world - not today, not tomorrow, and not 20 years from now.