My guest today is my son, Ian O’Roarty, and he’s back to chat with me and dig into all the things happening as he moves through the fall of his senior year and looks ahead at the future.

Ian shares his honest thoughts about turning 18, feeling like he’s wasting time at high school, and applying for college with a coach instead of with a parent. We discuss giving freedom & space to older teens so they can get some practice before they are off on their own. Ian shares what he does & doesn’t like about family meetings. We touch on tardies & missed classes, the collective teen brain & experience, and I ask Ian what older teens need from their parents (spoiler: it’s space to make their own mistakes).

Takeaways from the show

Ian’s thoughts on turning 18 and being a high school senior
College applications & essays
How a college admission coach helps
Giving space to our almost-adult children
Parenting “a year ahead”
The difficulty of letting go
Family Meetings with teens
Navigating tardies & missed classes
Giving older teens space to learn from mistakes
Collective teen brain
“Learn to let go and forgive and you’ll pass that trait on to your children”

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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Eps 433: Being what our 18 year olds need with Ian O’Roarty