Parenting does not end; it matures. And, like all mature love, it asks for courage: to learn continually, to forgive repeatedly and to show up consistently, not as the all-knowing parent, but as a fellow human being, who still grows, too.
It takes deep psychological work to love the child we have, not the one we imagined or would choose; to listen fully, respect their autonomy and offer wisdom only when asked. As Anna Freud said, “A mother’s job is to be there to be left.”