What do you wish to become?
There are a host of things I could answer here but in keeping with one of my recent posts I will say this:
My son turned eighteen in January and you'd think I would have it figured out by now but what our kids need from us sometimes changes. Some things should be constant, like the values we try to instill in them, hopefully visible in the way we live our lives. But as our kids get older and learn to tie their shoes, say please and thank you, ride a bike, finish homework first, be considerate on a date and fill out a resume, we parents need to be creative in our responses and approach while raising them.
I'm reaching the point now that many parents would have reached at an earlier age with their child, and I hope I can handle it as gracefully as some. How do I let go? How do I hold on to the bond my son and I share, yet help him separate from me and become his own man? In my head, I'm fairly certain I know what to do, but my heart? My son has what a therapist called a "Peter Pan complex," meaning he hasn't, up until now, wanted to grow up. It was just the two of us for many years and his preoccupation with me has been almost obsessive in nature. But, now, something has changed, clicked, become clear for him and he is now looking forward. It makes me feel good that he seems to have turned this corner but now I have to prepare myself for what must always come: the time when our children go up and begin to lead their own lives.
I wish to become the mother my son needs to help him gain independence and become a strong, confident young man.
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