Parents do many things but their most important job is to become obsolete. This is not a bad thing.
Their goal is to teach their kids to be self sufficient and not rely them for every little thing. This doesn’t mean that kids don’t need their parents anymore or won’t want their help for lots of things as they get older. My mom still calls her mom all the time with questions or just to talk. Parents should always be a part of their kid’s life, but the kids should be able to survive if/when the parents are no longer around.
People change constantly, especially kids. Ironically though, at my 8th grade graduation, the speaker said that “From this point forward, your [the parents] job is done.” Even as a kid, I couldn’t believe what he said because I know how much my parents still do with and for me. Then he added that at this age, kids are pretty much the way they will be for the rest of their life. Not only is that ridiculous, but it is not true. I have heard lots of adults say they changed even after they grew up.
As kids grow up, we won’t “need” our parents in the same way as we did when we were little but that doesn’t mean that parents won’t continue to help or teach their kids.
My grandma, who is 77, is still learning new things each day. Life is about changing and improving. If we didn’t change after 14 years old, well who knows how we would be?
