My daughter wanted to try candy-making. I admit, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic. Freedom in education, I believe, is a very important.

She purchased all the supplies with her own money.

The candy contained white sugar and hydrogenated fat, stuff I actively avoid. I set a couple ground rules like, “please don’t eat much of this stuff yourself, and don’t feed it to our other children.” She agreed and I let her proceed.

She did almost everything herself with just a few suggestions from me.

She considered the project to fall under the category of art and it was also an entrepreneurial endeavor.

I guess I could agree with that.

I used to be a super-strict about sugar and unhealthy foods, but I eventually realized that relationships are much more important than dietary choices. I still try hard to avoid eating or having certain unhealthy things in my home, but I’ve realized that moderation is key. What you eat 90% of the time is what really determines your quality of health, and splurging here or there isn’t going to cause serious problems when that’s the case.

Creative Activities

Raquel didn’t sell as many of these to her friends as she thought she would. She used them as party favors at her birthday party. And this was a two-time project. Don’t worry. She does plenty of reading, writing and arithmetic in addition to her sporadic, creative activities.

The lessons she is learning are more important than some of my personal preferences, within boundaries of course. I want her to love learning so I’ve decided I need to give her choice and freedom to experiment.

If our children are going to grasp the lessons of life, they need to have the freedom in education to make choices and make some mistakes. As they internalize these lessons when they’re young while the results are minor, they will understand that choices have consequences. Then they will use that freedom to choose appropriately in what they learn, watch, say, and do.

Sometimes all we need to do as parents is loosen up.

I’m trying.