My husband and I became grandparents over the summer. As my fellow grandparents can attest to, becoming a grandparent is a real lesson in how much you can truly love another human being. But we have also learned it is a real lesson in letting go.

As parents it is difficult not to espouse, or should I say dictate, our opinions to our children about their actions. When our children began leaving the nest, we learned that our opinions, while still hopefully relevant to them, were less persuasive. Now that our children have their own children, our opinions are even less so.

At the dinner table the other night my stepdaughter was talking about sleep training my grandson. I responded with my opinion as to how best to get the baby to sleep through the night. She responded with a smile and a “Maybe.” I inwardly chuckled as that smile looked so familiar to me. It was the same smile I would give my mother when she gave her opinion, I would briefly consider it, and then do what I want.

It’s still so difficult to let our baby birds fly on their own, no matter how old they may be. How do you do it?