It’s here again.
That time of year when school supplies are purchased, backpacks are packed, class schedules are finalized, and some teens (maybe yours) will begin their final lap of high school. I’ve been through this milestone twice already, and our youngest is just beginning high school this year. Go Aggies! Still, watching friends post about senior pictures and college visits brings it all rushing back. The fear. The joy. The sadness. The tears after our son’s last soccer game. The constant worry of did we teach them enough? Did we make the most of the years we had while they were young? It’s not a feeling easily forgotten and as I type these words the tears find their way down my cheeks yet again. This time they’re for you, mom and dad. Because I know what this season you’re walking into is like, and I know how fast it goes.
Senior year can feel like a countdown clock. Every “last” arrives with emotional weight: the last first day, the last football (for me it was soccer) game, the last school picture. For many parents, it feels like we’re holding our breath, bracing ourselves for goodbye. But what if we looked at this season differently? What if we chose to savor this season instead of mourning?
In my book The Journey of Love and Letting Go, I write, “Letting go isn’t the end of the relationship; it’s the expansion of it. The deeper the love, the freer the letting.” This year, I want to encourage parents to live in that freedom, not in fear. Yes, your teen is changing, and yes, it can feel like time is slipping away faster than you can hold onto it. But there is joy in the growth, beauty in the in-between.
Now is your chance to be fully present for the small moments. Celebrate their victories, laugh at the little things, and have the conversations that matter. Take the trip, say the encouraging words, linger at the dinner table. You’re not losing your child; you’re witnessing the result of all the years you’ve poured in. You’re getting ready to launch them into adulthood. That’s when parenting turns into coaching and you can finally be “friends” with your kids.
Remember: “We aren’t raising kids to keep them. We’re raising them to release them with confidence and grace.” (Chapter 5, The Journey of Love and Letting Go)
If you’re a parent entering this season, I want you to know you’re not alone. The tears, the pride, the overwhelm, it’s all part of the process. But you don’t have to be stuck in sadness. You can choose joy, connection, and celebration. I’ll let you in on a little secret you’ve probably already got a glimpse of. You can feel sadness and joy simultaneously. I felt these emotions together quite often during both of our kids’ senior years and until I started talking to other parents about it, I thought I was crazy.
I started writing in this season not because I had it all figured out, but because I was living it, right in the thick of letting go while till holding on. I needed words that could steady me. Truth that could carry me. And when I couldn’t find it, I wrote it down. That’s how The Journey of Love and Letting Go was born.
I like to think of it as a resource for parents who feel both the weight and the wonder of this sacred season. It’s for the mom who cries in her car after senior portraits, the dad who holds back tears at graduation, the parent who wonders, “Did I do enough?” It’s filled with stories, Scripture, and soul-level reminders that you are not going to fail; you’re faithfully releasing the very child you spend years preparing for this moment.
This year, instead of bracing for goodbye, let’s lean into the moment. Let’s laugh more. Hug longer. Say what matters. Pray a lot. And above all else, enjoy the ride.
You’ve got this and God’s got you and your kiddos!
For more parenting resources (and freebies) check out my website TheRealKstar.com.
