We were at soft play. My eldest took a fancy to climbing up the slide even though there was a sign on it clearly telling him not to.  

I was nearby watching events unfold. My son looked to me, to the sign, to the slide, then back to me. ‘Can I climb up, Daddy?’ 

‘Well, the sign says not to …’ I said, purposely leaving the sentence hanging.  

‘I know, but I really want to climb it as a challenge,’ he said. 

So, we agreed on some parameters: if another child wanted to go down the slide, he moved. If a member of staff told him to stop, he listened. And if there were consequences, he had to accept them. 

‘Deal,’ said my son before getting to work. 

Now, he did eventually get caught by a staff member, and he was reprimanded for ignoring the clearly labelled sign (I’d made myself scarce by that point), but not before he reached the top and celebrated his achievement with an ear-to-ear grin filled with pride. 

And he wasn’t the only one! 

I’m a big Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. I have been since I was a kid. He has this framework: 6 Rules of Success. Rule 2 is ‘break some rules’. 

Not all rules are created equal. They exist for different reasons. Some protect people. Some rules deserve our respect or indeed our obedience.  

But there is a difference – often a tiny difference – between rules that are rigid and those that are pliable. And sometimes in life, our children just need to climb up the damn slide.  

And they don’t need permission from us. They need it from themselves.  

Because one day, the slide won’t be a slide. It will be a career, a relationship, or a risky business venture, and they’ll need to live in a space somewhere between blind acceptance and defiance without purpose. 

Climb the slide.