{"id":1642,"date":"2011-04-21T12:53:48","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T16:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/growmama.com\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2011-04-21T12:53:48","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T16:53:48","slug":"letting-go-a-mothers-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/growmama\/motherhood\/letting-go-a-mothers-note\/","title":{"rendered":"Letting Go"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"They were little: crawling, babbling, teething, walking, sleeping, waking. First\u00a0it was preschool, then elementary, off to middle school and finally into high\u00a0school. Plays, concerts, classroom parties, volunteering, cub scouts, girl\u00a0scouts, softball, karate, gymnastics, practice, soccer, swimming, art projects,\u00a0science projects, religion, mock trials, honors classes, MUN, AP, IB, MSA, GPA,\u00a0SAT\u2019s, college applications and 18 years later \u2026University.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s here, the time when\u00a0they go. For some, our children left us a long time ago, for others its now and\u00a0for the rest, it will be later. There will come that time when those little\u00a0babies that we held in our hands will leave. A reel goes through my mind. Have\u00a0I\u00a0been the best parent I can be? Did I give them the tools that they will need to\u00a0be able to live an honorable life? What insecurities\u00a0I have did\u00a0I pass onto them? Could\u00a0I have done different? Will these questions have answers\u2026 some yes\u00a0and some I will have to wait and find out. There is really no point in feeling\u00a0bad about what could have been. As parents, we do the best we can under the\u00a0circumstances we are in and what we knew best at that point in time. Can we\u00a0learn from mistakes, sure we can, can we do different and be better parents now,\u00a0of course!<\/p>\n

Watching them go is as if they were birds, you feed them, take care of them, give them the nurture, love and support that they need and then you open your hands up to the sky, let them go and watch them fly away. You know that there will be hardships\u00a0but there will also be opportunities.You pray they come back safe and sound and\u00a0happy.<\/p>\n

As a mother, I have\u00a0given all that I can give and now it is time to see how far\u00a0they can fly.<\/p>\n

Nehal El Guindy<\/p>\n

Nehal El Guindy is a Licensed Clinical Counselor in Maryland and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University. Nehal currently has a private practice, LeVant Counseling<\/a><\/em>, in Urbana, Maryland. She is a mother of a son and two daughters and enjoys hiking, reading, socializing and traveling<\/em>.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They were little: crawling, babbling, teething, walking, sleeping, waking. First\u00a0it was preschool, then elementary, off to middle school and finally into high\u00a0school. Plays, concerts, classroom parties, volunteering, cub scouts, girl\u00a0scouts, softball, karate, gymnastics, practice, soccer, swimming, art projects,\u00a0science projects, religion, mock trials, honors classes, MUN, AP, IB, MSA, GPA,\u00a0SAT\u2019s, college applications and 18 years later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1573,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[133,195,630,730,828,851,880],"class_list":["post-1642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motherhood","tag-birds","tag-childdren","tag-islamic-parenting","tag-love-support","tag-muslim-mom","tag-nehal-el-guindy","tag-nurture-letting-go"],"yoast_head":"\nLetting Go<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They were little: crawling, babbling, teething, walking, sleeping, waking. 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