Help your child to be self-independent

One of the best ways to prepare yourself for the empty nest is to prepare your children for life. Your job as a parent is not just to grow children but to raise them to become responsible adults. Here's how you can teach your children independence:

1. Allow your children to make mistakes. That way they'll learn how to create successes.
2. Teach your children decision-making skills by laying out options within certain parameters and then discussing their choices.
3. Give your children power by letting them participates in making their rules. Younger children can help set rules pertaining to bedtime, for example, and teens, for curfew. Remember, there's acceptance in ownership.
4. Teach your children to honor their obligations. For instance, when your 5-year-old dumps a basket of toys on the living-room floor, make sure she puts them away when she's finished playing with them.
5. Teach your children responsibility by letting them suffer the consequences of their actions. When your 12-year-old rides his bike through a neighbor's flower garden, make sure he repairs the damage. When your 16-year-old takes the family car without permission, take away her driving privileges for a reasonable period.