Raising Our Children to Leave Us

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children is a book from which any parent can learn a thing or two. I recently saw author Wendy Mogel speak at the Nation Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference. She's quite entertaining and sensible. Although her talk didn't seem to offer much of a message to teachers, her advice for parents is right on. I was inspired to buy her book (my first e-book purchase on the iPad) and have found it to be filled with good practical keys to raising well-behaved, responsible, and grateful children. The book's "aha" moment for me was a short subsection of chapter four titled, Raising Our Children to Leave Us. While this simple phrase makes perfect sense, I'd never really thought of it before. As the parent of a high school senior, I'm mere months away from this very reality. In truth, though, this is exactly what we've been doing, whether or not we realized it or embraced it. The extent to which our daughter is successful on her own at college will depend on the competencies we've build in her, or more accurately, allowed her to develop over the last seventeen-plus years. Dr. Mogel's advice to parents reminds me of what I always say about  dieting: it's simple, not easy.