When my daughter was finishing her junior year of high school, it looked like she wasn’t going to graduate, and I was done crying, yelling and begging her to do what she needed to do. I called you, and you advised me to back off! You said she was going to learn what I taught her or she was going to end up in a bad situation having to dig herself out.
She began her senior year miserably, but I never checked up on her grades, nor asked about her homework. I allowed her to fail. She ended up not being able to graduate. And by not hovering and checking up on her, I was the most relaxed that I have ever been during her high school years. She wasn’t able to go to the senior dinner dance, walk at the ceremony or get the cute pictures with her friends. All of that was gone, and I didn’t have to do anything. She was devastated.
She spent the last year digging herself out of that hole and earning the necessary credits to graduate from an adult alternative school. I didn’t push, I didn’t nag, and I didn’t even encourage her to do it; she did it all on her own. Last month, she finally completed all of her credits and graduated from high school. She plans to enroll in community college in the fall. She learned her own lesson and is now taking care of things by herself. I’m really proud of her. Thank you for helping to save my sanity AND my relationship with my daughter.
Wendy
I Stopped Being a Helicopter Parent
