There are many visual references used to describe the connection between a parent and child.

A Piece of Elastic – They move away, the elastic stretches, they come back or you move in to ensure the elastic doesn’t stay over stretched and lose it’s elasticity.

An Anchor – A place of security for the child to return, knowing you will be there.

Scaffolding – A structure surrounding the child supporting their growth and development.

A Platform – A solid base on which they grown and develop.

I prefer to think of myself as an plant pot.  Not a terracotta or plastic pot, but a flexible, elastic pot.  I deal with the nitty gritty, the roots of all growth and development, while he grows up into the sunlight, knowing I am there supporting him in the background.  Sometimes he needs the structure of my support to be more flexible as he figures out how things work, what life feels like with a little more freedom.  Sometimes he needs my support to be more rigid, when it is time for me to be the mom so that he can be the kid, when for safety or age appropriateness, the answer has to be no.

Odo is a Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  His resting state is a puddle in a bucket.  He changes shape depending on the need at the time, ranging from liquid to solid.

My plant pot is from the same material that Odo is made from.  I change shape depending on the need at the time.

Bedtime & school attendance?  I am a solid (they are fixed in space and time)
Trying on new clothes that are outside his comfort zone?  I am a semi solid (and give him a time frame in which to have completed the task)
Putting on clean socks on a day when getting out of bed took all of his energy?  I am a liquid (I would rather he go to school in yesterday’s socks, than not go because I insisted on clean socks).

Choosing where I am on the liquid to solid spectrum requires paying attention to what is going on at the time.