Your child will go away, maybe come home for holidays and vacations but more than likely you are done. They will find their way, won’t need you as much and once they graduate they will move out and you will have that free room to do with as you please.
During those eighteen years we have tons of events that bring on different levels of anxiety.
• Sleeping through the night
• First tooth
• Sleeping in their own beds
• 1st day of school
• Puberty (I will speak on this often at later date ).
• Transition from elementary to high school
• First time they disobey you
• First dates
• First meaningful disappointment (ours was not getting into her first choice in H.S., which turned out to be a blessing).
• First relationship
• First time they sleep away from home (for us that was at about age 6 and I hugged her like she was going away for 3 years and not 3 days lol).
The list is endless.
But what I have come to realize is that all those moments all those levels and everything in between still cannot truly prepare you for when your child is fully grown and independent and an “Adult”.
You begin to see things in a different light; you begin to appreciate those simple moments.
You come into a new anxiety level of my baby is going out into this big old world and I can no longer hold their hand or protect them.
So what do we do? How can we help? How can we make the most of those eighteen years?
• Lots of love
• Lots of patience
• Lots of communication
• Learn to Listen
• Invest time in getting to know one another
• Focus on the positive, work through the negatives
• Build memories and share lessons that will last a lifetime
• Share plenty of laughs, lots of hugs and teach kindness
The anxiety may still exist but all that you have built together with your child will make it a lot easier to let go of that hand.
What else could be helpful to ease our anxiety?
