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Dear Mr. Dad: Our daughter is going away to college. On one hand, I\u2019m thrilled that she\u2019s becoming so independent. But we\u2019ve always been very close and I\u2019m worried that our relationship will suffer. Will it?<\/em><\/p>\n A:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, the day you\u2019ve hoped for and dreaded is finally here. Your child is going to move out. Some researchers have called this the beginning of the \u201cpost-parental stage,\u201d but I think that\u2019s a mistake. Yes, your child is leaving, but that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to stop being a parent. In fact, you\u2019re just getting started on the longest phase of your fathering experience.<\/p>\n You\u2019re going to miss her, and it\u2019ll probably take you some time to adjust to your newly empty nest (unless you\u2019re in what Craig Roberts and Kaye Zuengler call the \u201cquasi-postparental stage,\u201d which is when you\u2019ve launched some but not all of your children). It\u2019ll also take you some time to get used to your new relationship with your child and with your partner. Since you and your daughter were close, it may be hard to adjust to her gone. For those who weren\u2019t around that much, having her leave home might be even harder because it\u2019s unlikely that they\u2019ll ever be able to develop that close a relationship.<\/p>\n Read the rest of this article on Armin\u2019s blog.<\/em><\/p>\n Photo by\u00a0Laura Ockel\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n