“Without discipline, there’s no life at all.” (Katharine Hepburn)

When our daughter was a senior in high school, we eliminated all rules. That year was a wonderful dress rehearsal for this year, when she’s away at school and we have very little window into her daily life.

That meant it was up to her to decide what she allowed, and declined for herself. This was a bit of an adjustment, for all of us. Sometimes she actually wanted us to tell her what to do.

“When do I need to be home tonight, Dad?”

“When do you want to be home? It’s up to you, Sweetheart.”

“Well, I’m still just 17, and Georgia has a curfew of midnight.”

“So…”

“So…I think I’ll get off the roads before then.”

“Sounds wise. Send me a text before you start your way back home.”

Now that she’s gone, I cannot tell you how relatively confident we feel about her ability to discipline herself at school, because she’s already been doing it for a while.