What is the most terrifying thing you have ever done (besides parenting!)?
"Do you do any deep breathing? It will help with controlling your freak-out response when we jump"... asked the instructor.
Me: "Mate, I have pushed out of my body two humans naturally—I know ALL ABOUT deep breathing....!"
And on three, we jumped out of the helicopter—into the abyss…
Was it terrifying? Absolutely.
Did the deep breathing really help? For sure.
Would I do it again? In the blink of an eye.
You see, in the first few seconds of a sky-dive, you are free-falling and in a state of total shock—your body is plummeting through thin air, you have ZERO control. Your heart and brain are racing, your stomach is jolting, and your natural instinct is survival.
Then, you realize—there is absolutely nothing else you can do in this situation other than calm down, breathe, and enjoy the fall.
You look up at the horizon and suddenly notice the splendor around you—words really cannot describe the feeling of elevation, the overwhelming sense of awe that fills your heart, the beauty, and the profound joy of realizing that you are truly alive.
That must have been the scariest thing I have ever done.
After becoming a parent, that is to say.
When we become parents, a profound shift takes place within us. Until now, there were things we were used to controlling (ourselves, mainly).
But when a baby is born, it's like jumping into the unknown—there are so many things we simply cannot control: their hunger, their sleep, their need for emotional regulation… and then, when they grow, there’s even less you can control (ever tried getting a toddler to eat their broccoli or leave the house, fully dressed—ON TIME??).
Did you know that babies are born with their own personalities, memories, and experiences from the womb? Famous educator Maria Montessori calls this the Mneme of the Absorbent Mind—an innermost subconscious memory dating back to their time in the womb.
They are far from being the blank slates that many believe them to be. And they are certainly not empty vessels waiting for us to pour our wisdom into ("Here, child, let me impart this wisdom upon thee, and may it guide you for life").
The way our kids learn in the first six years of life is with their Absorbent Minds—soaking up everything—our attitudes, behaviors, culture, flavors, languages, and emotions.
What manifests in their reality is a direct consequence of everything they have been exposed to. There is only so much we can control around our kids—and all the rest depends entirely on them... and isn’t THAT terrifying?
As parents, we want our kids to be perfect, to never struggle, stay safe, never suffer, we take away disappointments, hand things to them, boost them up, roll them over (even though they are more than capable of figuring all of this out for themselves) …
BUT ACTUALLY, sometimes, the best thing we can do is let them have those difficult experiences—while being there for them:
Connected. Grounded. Breathing with them.
So, to sum up parenting:
Is it terrifying? Absolutely.
Does the deep breathing really help? For sure.
Would I do it again? In the blink of an eye (hehe, baby 3 on the way!)
Because just like skydiving, parenting is one wild, breathtaking ride—and one you wouldn’t trade for the world.
I am curious: what is the most terrifying thing you have ever done (apart from raising a tiny human?)?
Xoxo Mags Salton
Talk about parenting in Switzerland;)
PS. Thank you to the team at Skydive Interlaken for this incredible experience :)
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