An honest reflection on what everyone says - and what still feels wrong. “Let them fall down - that's part of it.”You often hear this sentence.From relatives. From friends. From experts.And somehow it sounds right. But when you really watch your own child fall for the first time -and cry -and get scared -then you realize:Watching is damn hard. The dilemma: trust vs. responsibility We want to make our children strong.Give them self-confidence. Freedom of movement.But at the same time, we have a responsibility. For their safety. For their well-being. And this balancing act is sometimes brutal. Because what if the fall turns out badly?What if the trust was too great? What if it was too late? What we have learned: It's not about control - it's about frames. Falls are part of it. Yes.But we can decide where they happen, how they are cushioned, how great the risk is. We can design spaces in such a way that they enable experience - without shirking responsibility. Falling as part of learning - not suffering. Our children will fall. Even if we do everything we can to avoid it.But they can also learn that they can get up again.That it's okay to be scared.And that we are there when they do. That doesn't mean: “Close your eyes and get out.”It means: “Eyes open - with heart and mind.” And you don't have to feel guilty if you try to make falling more bearable. Because that's exactly what makes you someone who doesn't watch -but accompanies.

A moment that changed a lot - and brought more than feelings of guilt. It wasn't a dramatic moment. No ambulance. No laceration.But it was our moment. The one in which we realized:Sometimes one second is enough - and everything tips over. We were standing in the kitchen. Our son was crawling in the living room.The watering can was on the windowsill. He pulled himself up. Reached for it.And fell. The can came with him. It was loud. He was scared, cried, luckily he wasn't hurt.But: we were too late. Three seconds. The impulse: “We should have been more attentive.” Of course we thought that. We were right next door.And yet we weren't there. And that hurt. But we made more of it than just reproaches. We have started to think differently - and to prepare better. What if we can't control everything?What if it's not about always being nearby - but about shaping situations so that nothing bad happens when we're not? That was the moment when we asked ourselves the question:How often are we actually not fast enough - and just don't realize it? What we have changed: We are less likely to leave “something on hold”. We think in terms of movement patterns - not furniture. We consciously build in a few seconds of reaction time - always. And we've stopped beating ourselves up for what we didn't foresee. Those 3 seconds didn't make us perfect. But more present. Since then, we've been a little more relaxed.Not because we have everything under control - but because we know:It's not about always being there. It's about being prepared.

An honest experience report for everyone who is in the middle of it right now. It was that one moment that you never forget.Our son was just eleven months old, he could pull himself up on the couch - and we thought: “That's safe now.” We were standing right next to him. And yet it happened. He lost his balance. He fell.Backwards. On the back of his head.The muffled sound is still there today. The moment when your heart stops is hard to describe. The reflex: “How could I let that happen?” Before our child had even really cried, the question was already there:“Should we have reacted faster?”“Why didn't we hold him?”“Are we bad parents?” These thoughts are brutal. But they are normal. What we have learned: No one can always stand by. That night, we researched, asked, doubted. And at some point we realized:Almost every father, every mother knows exactly this moment. The first fall. The first bump. The first internal shock. And almost no one was really prepared - not emotionally, not organizationally. What helped us wasn't a product. It was the realization:➡️ You can't prevent every fall.➡️ You are still a good mother, a good father.➡️ And: It's okay to be scared. What you can do - and what you can't. We have changed a few things today. Not out of panic, but out of self-care. We have deliberately made our home less dangerous (corners, edges, slip zones). We let him try things out - but consciously build in small boundaries. And yes: we now use aids that we would have laughed at before.(Because at some point you understand that “being safe” is not the same as “being overcautious”). But: we have also stopped wanting to control everything.Because that's the biggest lie you can tell yourself as a parent. Finally - and this is perhaps the most important thing: When your child falls for the first time and you beat yourself up for it -then you are exactly the person your child needs.Because you empathize. Because you think. And because you are learning. That's how parenting works. Not perfect. But real.