It's Okay. Be Brave. You can do it.

The three phrases in this title are currently the most important and frequently repeated words in my mothering repertoire (rivaled closely by "don't hit your sister" and "don't throw *item just thrown*").

Thanks to these three phrases and a heaping dose of her own desire to be a big kid, Elliot conquered the Eagles Nest yesterday. As usual, she insisted that I accompany her at first. Each time she reached a new tunnel, a step down, or a netted bridge, she would turn to me, shiver dramatically, and whisper, "I'm scared."


Unlike previous times, I didn't take her hand and help her over the hurdle. Instead I sat yogi like in the narrow tunnels and whispered my three magic phrases right back to her. "It's okay. Be Brave. You can do it."

Solemnly, she would take the next step, parroting my advice to her. "It's okay. I'm very very brave." And honestly, two-year-old Elliot, after gingerly crossing the netted bridge, looked at me and said, "Well, that wasn't so bad."


All of that work brought her to three super fast slides that were motivation enough to approach the tunnel gauntlet again.


And again.

And again. Always with Maya in front and me at her side, whispering the magic words in her ear.

Until suddenly, she climbed the stairs with Maya and forgot to look back to see if I followed.


They traveled the tunnels together, again and again and again.

I didn't have to shimmy through them until the very end... when I had to pull them out!