Let go and let them grow.

One of my themes over the past while was first taken from Michael Ungar's book Too Safe for Their Own Good.

Raising CAPABLE, CARING CONTRIBUTOR'S to their COMMUNITY is a 4 C'S goal to which we, as parents, should be aspiring. It should be our new mantra. It should be our New Year's Resolution.

(Michael's interview with me will be aired on Village 900 this Sunday January 6th at 9 am. You can check out his book in the sidebar to the right.)

Recently, I interviewed parent educator Kathy Lynn for Island Parent Radio (airing in September) and was struck by the similar message of raising our children (from toddlers to teens) to become capable adults. She makes some great points about how we, as parents, need to give them a chance to develop life skills from an early age. There is even a list of some chores children can handle from the two-year-old on up. Kathy's book is also one of my recommendations for parents of toddlers to teens.

A two-year-old? Think of some things that your two year-old could handle with your assistance.

I often hear parents—Moms especially—saying they like doing things for their children or worse still that they don't feel their older child is capable of making their lunch or a teen to do his laundry. What our we teaching them if we don't start with some independence.

It seems to me that some parents want to keep their children at a certain stage. It doesn't do the child any good and in the end the parent often suffers from the rebellious teen.

Do something for your child this year - let go and let them grow. You and your child will benefit greatly.