Letting Go

I sent my baby to kindergarten today. I sent my baby to kindergarten today. I can't believe that I sent my baby to kindergarten today.

What seems unreal about that is that I have to send her tomorrow and the next day and the next. I can let go for one day; in fact, that is pretty nice. But, I have to send her again and again for the next 13 years. And then, well...I can't even think about that.

Parenting is all about letting go. It starts from the moment they are born and have to let go of that umbilical cord. Growing up is a series of "being let go's" that should have us prepared to be adults.

Yesterday at church we talked about moving out of college and realizing that our spiritual food is now our own responsibility. I don't think that I had thought of it in those terms. I don't think that I was ready; I'm not sure that I'm ready now.

I learned how to do laundry, clean a house, drive a car, balance a checkbook (with Quicken), and grocery shop at the heals of my parents. They modeled daily prayer and bible study for me but that lesson didn't sink in as well, for some reason. The importance of it did but not the doing.

What about you? When you were ultimately "let go" what lessons did you realize hadn't sunk in very well? How can I, as a mom, instill those lessons in my children?