As I walked towards my car the other night, a wave of melancholy washed over me. I had just run into my son’s music teacher from High School. 

He (the teacher) looked the same. I looked  the same (in my opinion). But…nothing was the same. My mind quickly did the math and I realized that fourteen years had passed since that time when he first came into my son’s life. I couldn’t shake the impact of that realization. Where had time gone?

The passage of time is not a neutral experience, particularly as it relates to children growing up and striking out on their own. Oftentimes, parents struggle with their children’s individuation process and clutch onto them, in the hopes of maintaining the connection and the life that they have known.

That “clutching onto” doesn’t foster true connection though. It breeds tension and, sometimes, distancing (the very thing parents are trying to avoid). Like in the wild, anything that you chase runs away. 

We’re now in a traditional transition time of year, with graduations rapidly approaching. On the cusp of embracing something new…which, by extension, means releasing something old. 

How might you be able to:

-loosen your grip, if it feels a bit tight?

-reframe these next weeks and months to acknowledge the change and welcome the future?

-support your child in managing understandable emotions during this transition?

-support yourself in managing your emotions during this transition?