As a summer camp, youth and parenting expert, I espouse my advice to clients always with my opinion and experience. And nothing comes close to a parent's pride overflowing when witnessing their child's growth and accomplishments.
And this was personal for me quite recently. My son came home on spring break the other week. While we had seen him only 7-8 weeks before, we did not expect him to be that different. But he was. Well, kind of. What I mean is changes we saw merely weeks ago were now cemented; a permanent part of his make-up. Handling disappointments due to illness, thinking through his upcoming school work and internship responsibilities, finding a new apartment, planning his productive summer, and more. He was doing this with self-motivation and self-initiative, not because of a parent's encouragement (or involvement, which would be wrong in my opinion). Our hearts and minds swelled with pride.
I can think back to when my kids returned home each summer from overnight camp. A mere 7 weeks away was really a lifetime in the leap of maturity with which they returned home. And despite a decade of experiencing this, we remained amazed each summer of their development; who they each became as older, wiser, more self-reliant and experienced children and teens.
I share with my parent clients that you need to embrace these changes and not fall prey to regressive behaviors of more coddling. The best assessment of how good a job we do as parents is to send our kids off into this world as independent thinkers and doers who know how to lead safe, healthy and happy lives. Most everything else falls into place, including those bumps and obstacles along the way that lead to more self-confidence and life lessons.
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