Our DD turned 19 earlier this month & our older son will be 18 this summer, so we are just reaching the "parenting the 20s" stage.
I could be biased, but they are both really good, decent kids & seem to have good heads on their shoulders. Our DD is in her 1st year of college & is doing well & has needed minimal input from us. I foresee DS, though, perhaps needing a little more instruction/advice/direction. He's not as responsible or as motivated as DD.
I do think, as others have mentioned, that "parenting" changes as your kids get older. I'm not "in the trenches" w/ them any longer, but I worry just as much.
DD is in her 2nd semester. She's never been a math person, but she has to have a math class for her major. I suggested/advised her not to take it her freshman year & wait until next year, but she wanted to get it out of the way. Well, 2 weeks in, & she's having the hardest time w/ the class & was near tears last night.
If I could freeze time, I would have frozen it when our DD was senior in high school, our older DS was a junior in high school, & our younger DS was 8 - so far, that's been our easiest, most fun year of our family & our parenting experience.
I hope to always be available to our kids & to always be a source of support & encouragement for them.
But I hope I don't over-parent like my mom (still) does.
I'm 45. She's 71.
Our heat quit working on Tuesday night of this week. DH called the company who put in our HVAC system about 10 years ago & asked them to come on Friday (today), his off day.
I was on the phone w/ my mom on Wednesday & mentioned our heat not working. Our conversation -
Mom: "Oh no! Are you going to get it fixed?"
Me: "Yes, DH called [company]. They're coming on Friday."
Mom: "Did you call Mr. ___________________?"
(Mr. ______________________ is a man w/ whom they used to go to church years ago who used to have his own HVAC company. He retired & sold his business, but still works on HVAC systems.)
Me: "No, DH called [company]. They're coming on Friday."
Mom: "You could call _____________'s husband. He works on heaters too."
(They go to church w/ the parents of ____________________.)
Me: "Well, DH called [company]. They're coming on Friday."
Mom: "But they couldn't come until Friday?"
Me: "DH asked them to come on Friday, since he's off that day."
Mom: "So are you using space heaters now?"
Me: "Yes. DH bought a new one."
Mom: "You know you have to keep them away from the walls."
Me: "Yes, we know."
Mom: "Do you have enough? Do you need to borrow ours?"
Me: "No, I think we have enough. We're fine."
Mom: "You might want to hang a blanket over the doorway to your basement. A lot of cold air comes up from the basement."
Me: "DH hung a tarp there."
Mom: "Oh, okay. Do y'all need to come stay w/ us?"
Me: "No, I think we'll be fine. We have a couple of space heaters & a propane heater."
Mom: "Are you sure? It's supposed to get cold this weekend."
Me: "Well, they're supposed to come on Friday."
Mom: "I hope they can fix it."
Me: "Me too."
Mom: "Do you think the unit will need to be replaced?"
Me: "I don't know. I hope not."
Mom: "You know, sometimes, those companies will try to tell you that you need a new one even if you don't."
Me: "Yeah, I hope they're able to fix it, & we don't need to replace it."
Mom: "Do you wish you had just called Mr. ______________________?"
Me: "No?"
Mom: "Do you need any money to get it fixed?"
Me: "No, I think we're okay."
Mom: "Well, if you need to borrow a heater, we have one. Y'all are also welcome to just come stay here if you need to warm up."
And so it goes... By the time I got off the phone w/ her, I was stressed that we were going to have completely replace the entire system.
A guy from the company came this morning and fixed the problem. It cost $265.