Parenting is such a great opportunity to continously learn. The biggest challenge may be to remain flexible in one’s thinking. Letting go, in all its forms, is perhaps the most helpful tool. Firstly, of one’s sleep and personal space. Then of fixed ideas.
Things are always shifting. As soon as you’ve figured out one stage, it changes. As soon as you’ve figured out how to take care of an infant, they begin crawling, and a whole new set of challenges arise. Once you’ve learned about vegetarian diets, your teenager goes back to eating meat. Et cetera, et cetera.
And then there is the real ‘letting go’. I’ve had a big one this week, when my youngest was out of here on a one-way ticket (yes, she has recovered well from her bicycle accident). Her departure is both sweet and bitter. I am proud of her to enter into the bigger world on her own, and -naturally- I worry. I am happy to have one less mouth to feed here, and will at the same time miss her perky sweet energy around the house.
It’s interesting to sit still and really let myself taste this mixture of relief and heartache.
Wishing you the best of luck on the threshold of your adult life, my sweet daughter!