I’m so incredibly honored to have a story published on Grown and Flown today, a wonderful and wise resource where parenting never ends.

The title is “The Gift I Need To Give My Children So Their Wings Are Real.” It’s about the grueling endeavor of seeing our kids struggle or turn corners and the shiny parenting nugget I picked up while wondering in a pit of panic recently that is helping me pause before always rushing in.

Here’s a sneak preview:

“Ever since a technician spread cold gel on my belly and showed me a glimpse of my first baby—now midway through high school—fluttering in fluid on a screen, I was all in for the wildest flight of my life.

Despite vague awareness that in a few months she’d be tearing open my narrow pelvic canal, I swooned over her little organs, muscles, hormones and limbs and pledged my heart to her forever.

Rip out of me she did. And so did her younger brother and sister in years after. But if I thought that hurt, I was clueless of the pain and worry to come when I’d have to stand back while they fly out of my sight or push their own way out of struggle.”

You can read the full essay over at Grown and Flown by clicking below. I’d LOVE to have you join me. Thank you!

CLICK HERE to read the full essay at Grown and Flown.

I’m Julie Jo Severson, mom to two teens and a tween, freelance writer, editor, and co-author of HERE IN THE MIDDLE: Stories of Love, Loss, and Connection from the Ones Sandwiched in Between. 

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