As today is the last day that I’m the parent of a minor I’m naturally reflecting upon all that my son has accomplished toward maturity…and how the years have flown by! It seems like just yesterday that, a few hours after giving birth, I nearly passed out on our garage floor upon standing up too quickly when exiting our car, giving the new dad a near heart attack as he had our son in the car seat carrier in one hand and had to simultaneously grab for me with the other without dropping a newborn. (Personally, I blame it all on the nurse who failed to bring me milk to go with my king size Snickers that I consumed almost immediately upon celebrating the safe–after not without excitement we could have done without–delivery–as I feel more stable blood sugar levels would have kept me vertical…but I digress).
Yesterday as his dad and I were pondering how to best spur him on to continued growth while giving him increasing latitude in managing his life I saw this quote that more or less sums up what we concluded:
“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and to let him know that you trust him.”
Booker T. Washington
I also find myself encouraged by these words from a veteran parent:
“We highlight our teens’ successes while acknowledging their challenges. We limit some struggles toward independence by offering new freedoms. We link rewards with responsibilities, privileges with productivity, and money with good management…If we parents work more on our relationship with our teen than we work on our teen, we balance loving them unconditionally with trying to fix them. Then we imitate God’s way of parenting. He loves us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.”
Kimberly Hahn, Legacy of Love: Biblical Wisdom for Parenting Teens and Young Adults
So today as we get together with his lifelong friends to celebrate this auspicious occasion I am embracing this prayer knowing that my role as a parent is not over, just changing, as he moves toward adulthood:
“Dear God,
Thank You for my role as a mother. Please grant me the patience and wisdom I need to train my children as they grow up. When they’re all grown up, what a blessing it would be to not only be their mom, but to be their friend–and have dinner at their house!”
Marcia Ramsland, Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay That Way!
Be You Very Well 