Letting Go and letting them Grow

I have a hard time letting go. As a joke now, my entire family will sing Elsa's famous song telling me to "Let it go". Yet, here I am struggling. My kids are now 11 and 9. We are on the cusp of what they like to call tween-hood. No longer do we play Doodlebops and the Wiggles, instead we are not playing Taylor Swift and DNCE. Disney half an hour comedies are on the TV more than cartoons. I do find myself switching off the crude cartoons on Cartoon Network more. Plus, I find myself less burdened with the need to entertain them, as they tend to leave me to entertain myself. :( After a bout of begging they concede plenty of times to spend time with me now.

Recently we have moved to Pennsylvania. Now we are more settled I have been dealing with the hard yes and no questions. Can I go to this person's house? Can we stay the night? I tend to be overly cautious and protective, who can blame me in this day of age? We hear reports all the time and read about kids being attacked while sleeping over at a friends' house. So, I am still growing on this as I know it is also important to learn how to act socially in other environments. Yet, until I feel comfortable, no tends to stay the answer.

However, scouts is the exception. This year thanks to moving we aren't doing the week long camps, yet we are doing overnight camps. Every other activity they have done, I always go with. This was the first time I let them go on their own. My daughter actually asked me to let her go. So, why am I letting them go? Simple.. Because I have to. I don't want them to feel scared to be anywhere without me. When they are old enough to go to college, I want them to be excited and not be terrified. Granted, they are very versed in streets smarts and study taekwondo, but I want them to be able to experience the world. So, I let them go. My son did great and my daughter leaves in two weeks. Thankfully for my sanity, they literally only go one night this year. They always tell me, "Mom, it's ok. You only need to give us a foot of rope, not a mile. We're not ready to drive our life yet" (from the mouths of babes)

One thing my husband and I always say, we are not raising children, we are raising adults. It's important to keep that in mind. The end goal is for them to be successful, self-sufficient, and wonderful contributors to our society.  Ultimately, my kids believe they can change the world, instead of being scared of what the world will do to them. I'm a proud mama.