Maybe I was naïve, but once upon a time I thought that when my kids turned 18 and graduated from high school that my worries as a parent would be over. After all, I remember when I was was 18, I went wherever I wanted and stayed out as late as I wanted.
My parents must have had nerves of steel, because now I know that a parent never stops worrying. The only thing that changes when a child turns 18 is that the parent loses the ability to say "No." The child can pretty much do whatever, and the parent simply has to hope that the prior 18 years of parenting have taken root.
Today, our son and seven of his friends piled into two cars and headed off for ten days in San Diego. Eight freshly minted high school graduates, driving 750 miles away, with no chaperons and no parents, for ten days.
Of course, when I was 18, I was mature, as all 18-year-olds think they are. Now, being almost 50, I know better. Patrick, too, won't know how much he didn't know at age 18 until he's in his forties, too. That's just the way it is.
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