Prepping For College Self Care
As we head back into the school year, it’s important to recognize and honor all the mom’s out there hustling to raise kids. You are a Rockstar! This time of year can be beyond stressful with getting back into the routine of a school schedule, activities schedule, and playing tetras on the calendar with back-to-school events. For those of you with high school Seniors, brace yourself as you are about to take on another part-time job just for the college application process in itself. Seriously, it can be grueling.
Regardless of the age of your kids, your ultimate wish in life is most likely that they are happy, healthy, and successful. But nowadays, it’s not that simple. And you are going above and beyond to help them as much as you can! You are competing against, and sometimes working with technology. What’s become very noticeable for emerging adults now though, is that even with the best of intentions of a parent raising their child, these young people aren’t ready to launch when they graduate high school.
It’s not that you didn’t encourage them to participate in enough extra-curricular activities, take enough advanced academic placement courses, or save enough money from their part-time job to put a deposit on an apartment to rent. If anything, it’s the opposite. Our young people are overly involved, and overly prepared and driven for the post-secondary academic rigors that are waiting for them. Where our young people are lagging behind is in their emotional and social maturity. They just aren’t ready to be on their own.
In addition to you cheering them on at sporting events, making sure they did their homework, and completed their college applications now you may want to consider making sure they are able to complete some of these tasks independently. These are tasks that can be completed by students who embody resilience. Without resilience, we are setting our young people up for failure. And worse, you are setting yourself up for failure as well. Thinking you didn’t do enough, help them enough, or somehow blame yourself for their own struggles. Struggling is human, and it’s normal. We all experience it.
While you add onto you to-do list all these life skill milestones for your adolescent to ensure their independent success, it’s important to also make sure you are taking care of yourself. Prep for your own transition whether this is your first kid in high school, first kid in college, or you are about to be an empty nester. You need to take time to acknowledge the 18 years of hard work you put into your young adult. Hope the best for them as they launch into their adulthood, then turn to focus on yourself and your own wellbeing.
About the author: Joanna Lilley
