In this episode I talk about the reality that as our children grow into adulthood, they may “veer off” the path that we hoped for them. Have you ever worried about that? Have you thought about how you may feel if they turn out to be different than the person you wanted them to be? How would you handle it if you’re disappointed about who they become?    [4:25] We have a lot of influence in their early years.  [5:51] Then there are the teenage years… [6:58] We want our children to be able to think for themselves, but we also don’t want them to make “bad” decisions. [8:39] What’s our long term vision for our relationship with our children?  [10:30] We need to start accepting them for who they are.  [12:36] What I mean by acceptance (and what it's not). [16:35] How can we not only accept who they are today, but also who our children will become?  [18:21] What are some of those things you think you wouldn’t be able to accept or tolerate?  [19:49] Not accepting our children may result in losing our relationship with them. [23:38] Not accepting our children may cause them to lose relationship with themselves.  [25:32] Let’s not let our own agenda for our children overpower our unconditional love for them. [27:12] Tolerance isn’t enough. We must accept, love, and celebrate who they are (and who they’re becoming).  [29:30] The byproduct of this level of acceptance will be more influence.   If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Take a selfie of you listening or a screenshot of the show, post it to Instagram stories, and tag me @parentingjunkie or feel free to DM me on Instagram, I try to reply to as many as I can! Are you subscribed to my podcast? Subscribe here so that fresh episodes are delivered directly to you. Those shiny 5-star ratings and sweet reviews have me all gushy, thank you. But more importantly, they help other parents discover the Parenting Junkie Show and spread the word about Loving parenting and Parenting from Love. If you have a moment to spare, those reviews mean the world to me, you can leave one here.  Want to connect to like-minded parenting junkies? Join our (free & awesome) FB community Love Parenting with Avital. Resource Show notes: www.theparentingjunkie.com/37