Adolescence is a Trip

Imagine if your child was somehow forced, at age 12, to find his way, on his own, from your home to…say…Easter Island (about 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile), one of the most remote islands in the world. You are not permitted to go with him, he must travel alone. Truly envision this. Sit with it a bit, make it real in your mind. Picture your child with a backpack, trekking over deserts and mountains, through large foreign cities and towns, along dusty roads, day after day.

It’s scary, right? Especially if your child, probably appropriately, has yet to navigate to the corner store on his own.

Yes, the possibility of your child being forced to make his way to a remote island and back home again is probably zero. But we are imagining it is true for a reason. What would you do? Knowing the expedition will take years to complete and requires extensive preparation and equipping to complete safely, what plans would you make? What would he need to pack, what would he need to know, and know how to do, before embarking on this journey without you by their side? I know most parents would not just sit back and hope for the best. They would not underestimate the trip; they would intently equip and prepare their child…and themselves.

That’s the situation, as parents of kids at the end of the calm middle childhood stage (around age 10), are in. Do you see? Your child is standing at an open door, outside a storm is brewing and the air is full of energy. They sense a long, challenging, testing, journey lies ahead. For now, they wait and gather strength.