Good for you! Sounds like you raised some great kids into great adults. You sound like a proud mama..and rightfully so.

I was raised by the seat of my own pants..had very uninvolved parents..and decided I would never allow my kids to go out into the world without the knowledge or involvement that I so severely lacked.

My 12 year old daughter shows that she is interested in boys but thinks it’s stupid that all her friends are so desperate to have a boyfriend at their age. I agree with her. She is a big advocate against bullying. She takes it very seriously and calls it out if she sees it. This makes me proud and excited to see the woman she will become.

My 22 year old son has had one serious girlfriend but it didn’t work out because he moved across the country to go to college. He is not in any hurry to get married and have kids and has no interest in “playing the field.” He is always smart about his choices and looks at all possible options and outcomes. Something I could never do at his age.

My 16 year old son has always been my most difficult. He is the stubborn one who thinks he knows it all. I have no problem proving to him that he doesn’t, in the best “mom” way I know how. He has a girlfriend that he is very sweet to and totally head over heels for. This has worried me on many occasions. I have feared his sweet nature would get him taken advantage of, not in a sexual way, but in a manipulative way. He has proven me wrong and shown me he still keeps a good sense of self and boundaries. I know he has condoms..my heart skips a beat..but at the same time I know I can’t be with him 24 hours a day and I feel better knowing if he is going to make that choice, he is going to be smart enough to protect himself and her.

I have a 6 year old son. At his age we focus mainly on sharing and boundaries with friends, how to establish them and respect them.

Mainly I reflect on where I was at their respective ages and I am grateful that none of them are as clueless as I was and none of them have gotten involved in the things I did. That is how I know I’m doing something right.