I let my high school girls roam around NYC today on their own, which makes us either really awesome parents or totally insane. The jury’s still out until they’re older and tell us one way or the other. I’m leaning toward awesome.
Here’s why: This was the first year in many that we didn’t spend winter vacation in Florida with our Gramps, who passed away in August. I knew we had to come up with some plan for our girls, and they chose visiting camp friends in New York. Now, these two Midwesterners have never seen the Big Apple, so instead of delivering them right to safety of their friends’ parents, we sent them in the wee hours of the morning to do some sightseeing. Alone.
We were all a little nervous, but we came up with a plan and schedule and sent them on their way. They managed the flight, a train into the city, dropping off luggage (thanks @BagBNB!), roaming Times Square, shopping, lunching, a college campus tour and a bus to their friends in New Jersey. They were armed with phones, numbers of lots of friends nearby and black belts🥋
I watched the photos stream in throughout the day and felt so proud of their confidence and sense of adventure. I’m still figuring out this teenage “supervisor” role, but this much I know: every experience of independence we offer them, builds up their courage to face new opportunities and challenges in their futures. I didn’t regret not being needed today one bit. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them.
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