92. Is This Their Fear…or Mine?

As our kids get older, the things they’re ready to do get bigger. And somehow, our control over those things gets smaller.

Which can be terrifying.

In this episode, I’m talking about something I’m still learning: how to separate what my kids actually need from me from what would simply make me feel better.

It starts with advice someone gave me when my oldest left for university in 2020, and comes right up to this week, when that same daughter specifically told me not to ask about her CPA exams. (Do you know how hard it is for a mother not to ask ALL THE QUESTIONS?)

It turns out the question I keep coming back to is the same whether they’re five or twenty-five:

Is this their fear, or is this mine?

Because I didn’t raise my kids to stay.

I raised them to be able to go.

And maybe success isn’t having adult kids who still need us.

Maybe it’s having adult kids who choose us.