It’s something I have to persistently ward off if they are going to continue to be healthy young men.

This is not a new for me.

I remember feeling quite offended when a distant neighbor had a party for her five-year-old and did not invite mine.

My son was almost three.

Now, years later, both boys have been competitive soccer players and they don’t need any help from me. Yet, I feel the urge from the sidelines to have every pass go to them. I get annoyed at the other players who apparently fail to see my boys’ brilliance.

That’s not the only sideline I occupy.

I feel it in almost all their school subjects. I want to kick-start their social networks. I want to save them from ALL disappointment.

I quell these urges, almost always – perhaps erring when a little knightly parenting would have been helpful.

But, I quell the urges in the firm belief that my sons don’t need me to be their armor or savior. I suppress my lurking knight in the belief that every time I interfere with life’s ability to grow my boys up, I delay their maturity and summons life to repeat the lesson I shielded them from learning.