Eighteen is the end of childhood for kids — and a strange time for parents. Although not a little boy anymore, your 18-year-old is not a full-fledged adult either. He’s in that in-between place where flashes of both the child he was and the man he’s becoming are each visible — at different times. “Although an 18-year-old can’t drink legally, he can vote, fight for his country, serve on a jury, buy a house, get married, and get arrested,” said Melissa T. Schultz in The Huffington Post about her own son. “I am no longer the legal representative for his health, unless he grants me permission.”
“I cannot, without his consent, discuss his credit card bill with the bank, even though I am his co-signer (and even though he doesn’t have one yet); or discuss his tuition bill with his college, even though I am mostly paying for school; or view his grades, even though, again, I am mostly paying for school.” All of this is tough for parents to acknowledge — but critical.
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