As a parent of three 30+-year-olds, I want to offer that parenting never ends. Parents of newborns and toddlers are rolling their eyes right about now, but it does not end. It is just different.
Looking back, I realize, every year raising my kids was a year of growth for them and for me as a young adult and mother. All those years were preparing us for where we are today.
As I was learning how to be on my own with my kids, I was teaching them:
- how to walk
- how to eat
- how to talk
- how to potty
- how to share
- how to love
I was teaching them life is good and sometimes not so good.
I was teaching them when it’s good to rinse and repeat and when it’s not so good to change it so it can be better.
I was teaching them how to eventually move out and live successfully on their own.
I was teaching them how to be parents. I was creating footprints for them to follow while at the same time encouraging them to forge their own path.
This was purposeful.
However, what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was also learning how to eventually be on my own and preparing myself for the time when my kids would no longer be living with me and would no longer need me.
I created a life with my husband.
I created a life with my siblings.
I created a life with my friends.
My happiness is not dependent on my kids but rather it is because of them and the life I created for myself.
Today, my kids live their life on their own terms as they continue forging their path in the world. And they have chosen to include me in their world.
Two of them are now raising their own kids too. Being purposeful. Leaving footprints for their own kids to follow.
And I continue purposefully parenting my 30+-year-olds by giving them the freedom and space they need to continue learning and growing but on their own. As I continue to do the same on my own.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“My happiness is not dependent on my kids but rather it is because of them and the life I created for myself.”
Emy Fernandez, MBA, Life Coach
