While it might feel natural to panic or be skeptical when your child falls in love for the first time, clinical psychologist and author Dr. Shefali Tsabary says parents just need to relax and take a deep breath.
As our children grow up, it is inevitable that they will eventually begin to detach from us and seek connection and fulfillment elsewhere. While this may trigger an initial reaction of sadness and fear, Dr. Tsabary reminds us this is all part of the process of raising healthy and happy individuals. Instead of doubting a child's abilities to make decisions for themselves, parents must have faith in the seeds they planted and the lessons they've ingrained in their kids. By trusting and letting go, parents allow those seeds to blossom and take root. Allowing our children to make their own choices not only displays faith in our kids, but faith in ourselves as parents. By letting go, we affirm our own self-confidence that we did a successful job raising smart and capable children.
Watch above for tips from Dr. Tsabary to embrace this new phase of your child's life without slipping into a state of doubt and fear.
Dr. Tsabary specializes in the integration of Eastern philosophy and Western psychology in order to help families implement the concept of conscious parenting to better connect with their children. In her new book,
The Awakened Family, she explores these dynamic relationships between parent and child and explores a new way in parenting, where gender often becomes androgynous and therefore free of gender confinement. This, she says, also creates a generation that is balanced and living as one.
