Growing up with kids

Last week, I was travelling in a bus and passing through a school around mid-morning. I noticed a group of parents anxiously waiting at the gate and just when the bell rang , all the nursery kids ran out to their respective parent with so much happiness. Couple of them started crying when they didn't find their guardian. Just a few years back, I was one of those anxious mothers waiting at the gate. How time flies and how the attitude of these kids change when they grow up.
My daughter who used to cry during nursery even if I was only a couple of minutes late to pick her up, now in her teens, doesn't want me to come to the school unless the school insists. Do we parents actually realize when it is time to stop holding them and stop pampering them? There are times when my daughters are more matured than me in handling a situation and I am sheepish to admit so. Today's kids are far more matured and have greater clarity of thinking than us. They want to be out of our protective shadows earlier than we wanted to be out of our parents' control.

Very soon, they would be out of the house and on their own in this world. They are well equipped to handle the situation with advanced communication and far better education and exposure. But the question is, are we parents ready to accept that they are independent, are we ready to accept a situation when we are going to live a long, lonely life? At least , its time for me to grow up with my kids and plan for my own independent life.