Every parent says the same thing “I just want to protect my kid Fair enough Just remember muscles don’t grow in cotton Wrapped the corners, padded the floor Every sharp edge by the door Helmet for climbing the backyard tree “Careful now, the world’s scary Solved their problems before they tried Tied their shoes and chose their side Smoothed the bumps and cleared the road Never let them feel the load And the kid grows up safe and sound Till real life shows up unannounced No map, no scars, no practiced fall Just a world that suddenly feels too tall Cottonball kid in a concrete world Soft little shield round every swirl No cuts, no bruises, no broken skin But strength never had a chance to begin Love wrapped tight like a padded room Safe from every little boom But storms still come, they always did And cotton melts in the rain, kid Parents thought they did it right Kept the monsters out of sight But monsters teach you how to stand When they’re small enough to understand Failure’s not a villain’s game It’s the teacher with a stubborn name Every scrape and every bruise Builds the muscles kids can use Take the fall, get back again That’s how courage learns to bend [Bridge – perspective shift] You don’t protect a tree from wind By locking it inside a shed Roots grow deep in storm and bend Not in still air overhead Raise strong kids for a wild world Not a padded little swirl Let them stumble, let them try Teach them how to stand up high Love ain’t shielding every hit Love’s saying “I know you got this The strongest hearts aren’t safely hid They’re built by life, not cotton, kid. You’re not raising a child for today You’re raising an adult for tomorrow Let them practice
