10 Mar Letting Go of your Teen

Letting Go of your Teen

There comes a time when your children gets to a certain age when your job as a mother seems to be nearing an end.  What I mean by this is the mirco management daily stuff us mothers deal with.  You never stop giving advice as a parent, its the every day parenting I’m talking about. 

I found when my children went “off” to school that I’ve found myself asking the question “what now?” Many of us Mum’s give up our professional careers to look after our kids, some of us as stay at home mums, others having part time jobs to fill in the hours during the school day. Either way the time comes when we feel like our job as a parent is not so demanding and hands on and we need to fill our time with other things.

I have found the transition so tough having given everything to being a mum, wife and home maker. It came to a point where I sat thinking, what about me?  I’m not needed anymore. What am I going to do now?

“Letting go” was an oxymoron for me,  the fact that I hated not being busy with the kids anymore made me feel empty inside.  That had been my pupose for the past 14 years, it was my comfort blanket, something I could hide behind because deep down I felt ashamed of not doing anything with my life, well of no real note.  I did have a business in personal styling people, but it didn’t give me the joy I’d always yearned for.  In fact that industry made me feel old and out of date. The only thing I really got out of it was making people feel great about themselves through clothes.  It was for me, something I did to earn some money and felt like I was contributing to the family pot.

Conversely,  “Letting go” was like a rebirth for me.  I couldn’t and wouldn’t sit around feeling empty inside anymore.  It was becoming unhealthy and I was becoming bored by my inner dialogue. It was at this point that I had to find my new purpose. Letting go wasn’t as scary as I first imagined, it is just another stage in life.  Embrace new beginnings, they are often the opposite of what you expect!