My child is a senior in high school. Now what?
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from Your Parents (1 of 12)
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Introducing “Adulting 101: A Gift from Your Parents”
My second child will be a senior this year. He begins his life at a new school in just days. I will once again go through the “Oh no, my child is leaving home soon. What have I missed? What do they still need to know” phase of parenting. Luckily, I have the experience of my older son’s high school journey two years ago. At that time, I was inspired to create a coupon booklet for my son Adam. This newsletter is intended to share that inspiration with you and anyone else who may be in a similar situation.
“Oh no, my child is leaving home soon. What have I missed? What do they still need to know?”
That initial panic seems to creep in sooner than later, perhaps around the end of the first semester when your child’s future is more clear - maybe they have been accepted to a university or know they will be leaving for the world of work. My son Adam planned to leave our home in Hong Kong to return to Wisconsin where he would attend a technical college to become an EMT. By late November, I was wondering, “Is he ready to go off on his own? What can I do to help him prepare for this big shift? How can I be an effective parent teaching those final Adulting 101 skills without also being preachy?”
I got the idea that I could give Adam a coupon booklet - something fairly common in our family, from homemade Mother’s Day “free back rub anytime” to Anniversary “Dinner for Two” coupons. With a coupon booklet he could then choose to ask for what he wanted or needed and I could let go of the panic that I wasn’t doing my job as a parent. I might also avoid a lot of fights that tend to happen when a parent begins to panic-preach.
I came up with 10 lessons as a coupon booklet called “Adulting 101: A Gift from your Parents”. Over the course of the next months, with a few reminders and encouragement, he redeemed about half of them, although not in the order I expected. But that was fine and I was sure to let him drive the bus. After all, he was about to be entirely in charge of himself, I needed to be letting go.
My hope is that your own transition can be eased by presenting your own child with Adulting 101 coupons. And because I simply love the idea, I won’t be offended if you make up your very own coupons that are suited just for you and your child.
In the following weekly posts I will discuss the content of each coupon. My hope is that you may present these coupons to your senior, easing the transition away from home for both of you. You may even find the journey brings you closer together. I did.
Each week I will provide helpful tips to help lovingly guide your discussion with your child. Subscribe and stay tuned for Adulting 101: A gift from Your Parents, a course in Coupons for your kid. (Coupons included!)
Up Next: “Hopes And Dreams”
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Parenting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
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Writer. Teacher. Gong Player.
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com
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On Instagram @applebb09
All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2022 unless otherwise credited.
I love this! Wonderful guidance for the end of high school.