Nurturing independence

Cathy Madavan tackles this parenting paradox with helpful advice she’s learned through raising her two grown-up daughters

There are upsides to empty nesting. Okay, so I may stalk my daughters on find-my-friends and will drop everything (literally) to answer a call no matter how inconvenient the moment, but we no longer have to pay for their dentistry or mobile phone bills, so that’s a win. More seriously, my mind is boggled as I look at how my two angelic(ish) little girls have morphed into strong independent women in their 20s. But even at this stage, it’s a tension to manage this parenting lark. We don’t want to be absent or distant, but neither do we want to be overbearing or controlling. We don’t want to abdicate responsibility but neither do we want to foster an unhealthy dependence.