Letting Your Kids Learn To Be More Independent

At this time of the year, many parents find themselves stressed as they watch their children become more independent. Summer’s over and that son or daughter is heading off to college for the first time. Or maybe a teen is now entering high school, or a younger child is involved in a sport with older kids, but suddenly you see your role as that all-important parent becoming much smaller.

While we all want to protect our kids, we also have to recognize that a normal part of the development process is for the child to grow separate from the parent, to make more of his or her own decisions,...