Lessons Learned & Scars Burned

4:45 a.m. - As a parent, how do you not overreact to a situation with your kids and still make the acceptable and unacceptable clear?  How do you make your point without nagging?  How do you teach a lesson with a listening ear and not judgment?  How do you parent fully, love unconditionally and inspire whole-heartedly with your true authentic self when you are hurt and angry about something your teen said or did?  As I went to drop a car off for my now graduated 18 year old at 4:40 am this morning, the phone rang.  My raging daughter is wondering why the car was not waiting for her in the school parking lot after her graduation night lock in. Not only was I just walking out the door to drop off a car arriving, well before the 5:00 am time they told parents, but I planned to walk home myself – so she did not have to.  Apparently, now it is my fault the hyphotist did not show up and the student busses left the lock in early.  As parents, how do we set boundaries about acceptable behaviors toward us?  Are fibs and lies the same thing?  When your child speaks their mind with conviction - is that the same as sassing?  Is one okay and the other is not? At what age do we accept they don’t need to ask “permission” anymore? Now, as I send my first born off to college (we registered for classes at UMD last week) I hope and pray we have set her up for success. And, I hope and pray that together we have generated more lessons learned than scars burned.