Last night I was at a parents information evening for those with youngsters applying for university admission next year. Can time really have flown so fast that our youngest is now ready to follow his sister away from "the nest" and make his own way in the world. Is he really 17.... where did those 17 years go?
Parenting has been a continuing gradual process of letting go. When he was a wee baby we did everything for him. Gradually he became more and more independent and self reliant and now he is by some definitions a man. Yet as those links of dependency have lessened they have been replaced by other links which are potentially much stronger and will ultimately we hope be longer lasting.
Many parents find it hard not to be needed in the same way. And from my distant memories of teenage years, I recall it is hard to be as independent and strong as you think others think you should be. But then no relationships are easy. The word means that we have to relate and in doing so we have to be prepared to change and any change can involve pain.
Albert F Bayly's words come to mind:
Grant those entrusted with the care
Of precious life from thee,
thy grace, that worthy of the gift
and faithful they may be.
Teach them to meet the growing needs
of infant, child, and youth;
to build the body, train the mind
to know and love the truth.
(Hymns and Psalms no 372)
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