You can only raise them, but you cannot choose the path they follow when they grow up.

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. Letting kids deviate from what they were raised with or how they were raised is a very difficult thing for many parents to let happen. In many cases, it always results in a broken family, and the child who decides to take a different path is cut off from the rest of the family. It is very difficult to come across African parents that support their child's choice to deviate from how they were raised, but many kids these days tend to want to deviate, and it has in one way or another caused a crack in the family bond.

_{designed in canva.}

Many parents try to keep their kids on the path that they showed them from the time they were little, but many kids grow up and, for one reason or another, will want to try another path. This is like a nightmare for many parents; they don't ever wish or pray for it, but sometimes it is inevitable, and they just have to deal with it either by fighting it or by accepting it. Some fight it, and in the end, they give up the fight and let the child do what pleases them. Their relationship with the child, in most cases, waxes cold, while others still accept the child for the new person they have become.

Sometimes I feel it is better if parents give room for the possibility that a child can grow up and decide to go down a different path. That way, the heartbreak that comes with it is reduced, and the situation is handled calmly and resolved without causing any chaos in the family. Growing up in the northern part of the country, this is a common thing that happens all the time. A Christian girl decides to change religion all because she wants to be with her Muslim lover, and the family will always want to stand in the way, and in the end, they lose touch with their daughter completely. They always run away from home and hardly return; some are cut off from family and anyone who tries to support her or their love as well.

If only parents would accept the truth that they can only raise the child, but the path they decide to go down or stick to is all up to them. And as parents, it is expected that they love their child unconditionally, irrespective of the path that they have chosen. You tried your best as a parent, but they chose a different path. You just accept it and accept their decision, especially in cases where they are persistent and adamant. Instead of letting their decision break the family apart, just let them go.

I have seen it happen countless times and how it ended happy homes. If my child decides to take a different path and I try to talk them out of it and they are adamant, then I am forced to accept them for who they have decided to be. Love them unconditionally, and most of all, accept the new them just so the love and harmony we enjoy can continue.

Thanks for reading my post.