Lenore Skenazy

Or, we were on vacation and she got lost, but she found her own way back to the hotel.

Or, my kid took the cousins out last night and let the five-year-old get a home run.

We're most proud of our kids when they do something on their own.

And our kids are most proud of themselves when they do something on their own.

So the solution to the parent anxiety crisis and the kid anxiety crisis

turns out to be the exact same thing.

You've got to pull apart those worlds again.

You've got to put the kid world separate from the parent world, put them back in balance.

You've got to let kids do something on their own in the big, wide world, maybe without even tracking them or talking to them or texting them, just trusting them to do something on their own.

And if you can do that, if you can let go, I can guarantee...

your kids are going to end up less anxious.

Your kids are going to end up smarter.

And your kids are going to feel really proud, but not as proud as you.

Thank you.