"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

This week brings another change in our household.  Both of our kids have finished their summer jobs at the beach and have transitioned into their new "homes" for the year.  The good news for me is that they'll actually be closer while in school than they've been this summer which means I may get some ad hoc meals with them throughout the semester.

Even when changes are for the good, they bring a level of stress and often mixed emotions.

As my young adult kids transition into their next chapters, they start building new identities for themselves.

As parents, we start shifting our parental identity from one focused on protecting, nurturing, and helping grow a future adult to one focused on supporting their life choices, being an advocate for their journeys, and being a sounding board and support system when they need and want it.

These changes are normal and healthy and exciting; that doesn't make them any less uncomfortable.  When we look at parallels in other species, we find that "Crabs (and other crustaceans) cannot grow in a linear fashion like most animals. Because they have a hard outer shell (the exoskeleton) that does not grow, they must shed their shells…."

So, like them, for us to grow into our next phases, we need to shed or adapt our identity.

I'm working on letting go of my current parenting identity so that I can become the parent of young adults starting their journeys of becoming who they want to be.

What part of your identity is it time to let go of so that you can become the next version of you?