Encourage camp time

[Amy]

Hi all - My son just got back from a week work camp through our church. (They are a part of REACH ministries, and go to economically depressed areas of the united states and work on repairing and fixing up homes - middle and high schoolers primarily.) My point is that as tough as it is to have your kids leave you for a time, I believe that having encouraged times apart from us has been extremely important to our son's independent development. As an only child, it would have been very easy for him to be quite dependent on us, but would have been a real diservice to him later in life. At 17 and a half now, he's got the confidence in himself that is so important in this time of looking to go away to college, etc.

[feline]

Yes, it is hard to let our kids leave, especially if he/she is the only one. However, the purpose outweighs the hardships and I believe that the experiences that they have away from home will greatly help them in becoming a better person.

[Amy]

Feline - It certainly has with our son. Thanks!

[Melos]

This is very true. My eldest son (8) is quite clingy to me, so I go out of my way to get him involved with things that he will enjoy a lot and get him away from me for a while. My youngest is autistic, so I can't do that with him.