The XX Factor

On this Mother's Day weekend, here's a shout out to Jessica Grose 's mother who as Jess writes, " didn't want to get in the way " of her college age son's and daughter's independence so she would never call them, though they could call her whenever they wanted. It takes a lot of self-discipline to not call an adult daughter. A lot. As I confessed in Slate last year, being available to our grown children without inserting ourselves into their lives is a very tough balance beam to walk. One of the hardest tasks a mother has is recognizing when the job is done. Congratulations to all the moms who have graduated to being the person who can still listen, cheer, and celebrate but somehow refrain from meddling.