A mother’s job is to teach her children to not need her anymore. The hardest part of that job is accepting success.

We pour our lives into our kids. We sacrifice, lose sleep, and make sure they have everything they need, only to have them one day leave to live on their own without us. My guest understands this feeling as a parent with one foot in and the other foot out of the launching phase.

Cristina Wright is an author, former homeschool mom, wife, and mother of two. Her first book, Launch Them Well, helps moms navigate the emotional rollercoaster of watching their children grow into young adults—while also empowering those kids to thrive in independence.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Guidance on how to launch your kids well
• Why your identity should involve more than your role as a parent
• How to process the grief that occurs after your child launches
• And more!

This is a topic I am passionate about, and I felt so blessed by the wisdom Cristina had to share!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Prefer to watch this episode? You can now view and subscribe to our YouTube.
• Connect with Cristina on her website
• [BOOK] Launch Them Well: A Mom’s Journey of Surrender and Purpose
• [BOOK] Empty Nest, Full Life
• As a thank you for listening, get your 3 free eBooks.

My Key Takeaways:

1) Launching our children isn’t a one-day event. When we think about launching our children, we think about the day they graduate high school, when they head out of state for college, or when they move into their first apartment. While this is certainly a big step in launching, the process actually started long before that day. From the day we bring our children home from the hospital, we are preparing them to be adults. We teach them about consequences, emotional regulation, laundry, building a budget, and so much more. There are thousands of little events leading up to that day that help our children get ready to launch and navigate adult life on their own.

2) Prioritize your emotional health. It’s normal for you to experience grief after launching your child. After all, you are essentially being fired from your job! However, if you don’t take the time to nurture your emotional health, you may interpret their independence as a rejection. Instead of letting this process harm your new relationship with your adult child, take your emotions to a trusted friend, counselor, or your spouse to process.

3) Your new goal is connection. Before our children launch, we have an important role in their lives—to correct behavior, nourish their souls, and prepare them for the future. Now that that work is done, our focus shifts to building connection. This might mean withholding judgment for decisions they make that we don’t agree with, and no longer swooping in to save the day when things go wrong. I’ll be the first to admit this is easier said than done! When the urge to say something disapproving rises up, I like to remind myself that I’m now a member of the “keep it shut” club.

About Cristina:

 

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