Is It Time to Cut the Umbilical Cord?

Letting go of control and conditional expectations allows your children to flourish and live their potential.
For each of my babies, I was the one who cut their umbilical cords. It was symbolic for me.
"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself...You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow..." Kahlil Gibran
Your children are their people, their own souls are here for a reason, here for a purpose. You, as a parent, are here to love and guide them to find that purpose, to live and be that purpose.
Even though you deeply love them, deeply bond with them, you must cut the umbilical cord.
What exactly do I mean by that?

I mean, letting go. Letting go of your conditional expectations. Letting go of your need to control. Letting go of judgment. Letting go of the outcome of how you "think" they should be.
It can be a dichotomy. Loving and bonding with them on one hand, letting go on the other.
"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots. The other is wings." Hodding Carter Jr.
So, how do you do this letting go? It is definitely not the way we have been taught to be with our kids.

Let's take an example.
My new baby. I love her dearly. I am nurturing and bonding with her on many levels. But, when I look into her eyes, I have a "knowing" that she is her own person. We are ONE on one level, but she is also here on Earth to have her own life and be her own person. I respect that.
Don't you wish sometimes that your parents respected who YOU were as a child? That they let you be yourself and honored that? That is what you must do with your own children for them to live their own full potential. (And to do with yourself as well.)

"See" your children as already whole, complete, and perfect beings themselves. "Know" that everything always works out one way or another.
When you set your intentions around your parenting, when you visualize being the parent you want to be, and when you are having fun in the process, letting go is a natural next step. It's so natural, that you may not even know you are doing it.
Trust.
Trust and let go. All is well. All is perfect in your knowing that it all works out for the best.
Enjoy!