Anonymous wrote:Congratulations. You are functioning as a parent and not their friend. Your kids are the well-adjusted ones who are naturally separating from their parents. Enjoy the win and focus on figuring out how you want to spend your free time. Because face it - you (hopefully) have decades in front of you after your job as a primary caretaker is over.

I agree with this poster.

I would add that you will want increasingly to "fit yourself" into your DC lives, not the other way around. See it as a continuum in which they are eventually launched, leading independent lives, and you will go visit them and live in their house. So in the in-between time, start thinking about how you can do things they like and do those things together. For a lot of teenager boys it's feeding them, so meal times or meals out. For a lot of teenager girls it's shopping. But whereever your teen gives you a window, make sure you are available and open to the window they give you.

Anonymous wrote:Adults need to form some adult friendships. A child isn't a pet.

They are not pets and are not supposed to be your friend until they are well into their 20s.

However I do think they are similar to pets. It is why a good piece of advice to couples is to get a puppy before they have children. To see how they can handle the responsibilities