My youngest daughter is experiencing a whole lot of “firsts” in her life this week.

She’s on fall break from her college, and she decided to fly down to see her grandmother, extended family, and a few friends in Florida.

So naturally, there was some planning to do.  Some “adult” things to take care of – as with any journey – but in the past these things were always handled by myself or her mother.  This time, she is the one in charge.  She had to book her first plane flight, navigate the airport on her own, and figure out how to handle her first flight delays, gate changes, and other assorted travel headaches.  She regularly kept in touch with us by phone and text, and she experienced a roller coaster of highs and lows as the travel idiosyncrasies had to be dealt with.

My wife and I have tried to instill a mindset of independence in both of our children (sometimes to our detriment), and my advice when one of my offspring encounters a negative situation has been always a simple, straight-forward philosophy.  Once the emotional reaction of whatever problem you’ve encountered has run its course, you then have to start thinking about the steps needed to go about solving it.  In other words – be mad, be upset, but after a few minutes – get past the emotions.  Now what are you going to do to fix it?

I’m pleased to say that both of my daughters are getting better and better at this, and my youngest did well in enduring her travel delays. 

Now back to her firsts.  She traveled around with a friend upon reaching the Sunshine State, visiting her grandmother (on her birthday), reconnecting with aunts, uncles, and cousins, and stopping in to say “hello” to old family friends.  She even drove by our old house from Florida (sending us pictures, of course) – and she was barely shy of four years old when we left there (so I doubt she even remembers much of that house).  We didn’t tell her she had to do any of these things (as it was her trip), but again, she was making all of these decisions on her own – her first “real” ones as an adult.

She’s been keeping us up to date on her adventures along the way.  She’s having a great time. 

I’m sure there will be many more firsts for our daughters in the coming years, but it’s good to know that they are making solid, smart decisions – while still having the fun that youth affords and requires.

Hard to believe that some of the seeds of knowledge we’ve planted in each of them through all of these years are starting to sprout and grow.

Here’s to more exciting firsts – and may they all be happy ones.