However, if our children are to launch successfully as young adults, we need to continually encourage them to become increasingly independent. Most of us find it easy to encourage our babies to take their first steps. It's so exciting to see them learn to walk!
It is far more difficult to leave them for the first time at daycare - especially if they are crying and reaching for you as you walk away! Eventually they learn that you will return and they learn ways to comfort themselves while you are away.
Every day our children take small steps towards independence. Some days our children take big steps - like when they leave for college.
We'll soon be driving our daughter to college for the first time. She'll be living on the other side of the state and starting a new phase of her life. Although I'm excited for her, I'm also saddened knowing how much we'll miss having her at home. Letting go certainly isn't easy.
The online course "Ready to Launch: Parenting Teens Through the College Transition" is a wonderful resource for preparing parents for this change.
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