Letting go, and Letting Them Grow

I haven't posted a 'challenge of the week' in quite a while, so I guess I'll write about two of them now.
The first one is once again about Tia not wanting to try any new foods.  I think we just might be (fingers crossed) turning the corner on that one.  She's in preschool now and is (sometimes) more inclined to try the foods her class mates are having.  I can tell she really wants to try things but just can't bring herself to do it.  So, the other day she decided that she'd like to taste a banana.  You might not think that's such a big deal, but in Tia's world, it's huge.  She not only tried a banana, she liked it.  Alleluia!  This was such a momentous occasion, I had to take a picture of it.  OK, it's not chicken and broccoli, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

Now for the next challenge.  At both of the girls' preschools they have encouraged us to get rid of sippy cups.  Eek!  Allow the kids to use regular cups and have spills at the dinner table?  Yup, they claim spills and messes are all part of the process and the only way they will learn.  Not only that, but they have the kids pour their own drink at snack time, using small pitchers of milk and water.  All I could think was "Oh God, we're not doing that in our house".  Well, I was in the store last week and those little pitchers were staring at me, daring me...I had to buy one.  So, as it turns out this was much more of a challenge for ME than it was for the kids.  They haven't had one spill all week and have really been enjoying their new independence.  Look at how proud they are...

 It only took me from September until now to learn to let them grow up a little.  I have to accept that they're not babies anymore (sniff), and get joy in hearing them say "Mom, I can do it all by myself".