sigh

Being a parent, especially a single one, isn't ever easy. To be honest, it's easier now than it was before, because I am able to let my younger daughter learn in the way that she needs to without the constant conflict. Her father is very much in the corner of "dictate and have obedience", and I can understand that. It's definitely safer emotionally for a parent if you are able to raise a child who will follow and submit to this theory. I, to a great extent, did, but then it was just my mom and I for almost my entire life at home, so I was allowed alot of the freedoms that I would have been going crazy for otherwise.
I think that it makes much more sense to guide rather than dictate. I know this doesn't always work well, in fact it is at times a complete fail. However, I think that the time that a child is at home is when they need to be working those wings and getting to know what they are, how they work, what they CAN do and what they CAN'T, while a family and a nest and a net are not on stand-by, but in solid practice.
That's just a brief overview...
my girl just ended a 6 month relationship with a young man(she is almost 15, btw). He's a good guy, good family...i like him alot. She isn't the easiest person to be with, but she learned alot while she was with him. I think that overall it's been a very good thing for both of them. They have had their ups and downs and trials and backfires and misfires...
But it's over. It needs to be.
She's tough, my little lion. She has good friends and she has been struggling to do this for quite some time now. It's sort of her dad's situation...not happy but not wanting to leave really, but then wanting to leave and then changing their mind in case they were wrong. If it happens so often, if the doubt is there so much and doesn't really ever ebb, it's time. Maybe it's the relationship, maybe it's just you. But the person you're with, if you're the one with the doubts, deserves to have someone who is there more than not. They will be hurt and confused, but man...they will heal. Trust me. I'm that person. Not the leaver.
So, I found some sayings while I was looking for something to post to her, but I'm going to just hold on to them for now. One, though, I wanted to post here:

My baby girl...
You have so many more adventures ahead of you, both good and bad...hell, wonderful and tragic. But what they all give you, the impressions that you keep, are what will be the fabric of you when you are done with this life.
Don't be afraid. Get out there and give it all a whirl.