When & How

I truely believe that children are a blessing from God, but there are some days when we as parents & mothers have to continually remind ourselves that on a minute by minute basis.  You know, they are so easy when they are babies: eat, sleep, & poop, that's all.  They are so cute & cuddly, then they start to grow up.  The terrible twos begin the stage of independence.  No more wanting to hold mommy's hand, no more feeding them nutritional foods, and they have to do everything by themselves.  Some days we are just lucky to get a cookie in their bellies & feel grateful that they have something if anything in them at all.  But even then, I can handle it for the most part.  What I have a problem with is when do you start letting them make their own decisions.  Especially when you know without a shadow of a doubt that they are going to choose the wrong way.  How do we as parents let go & let them?  How does God do it for us?  If we love our children as much as we do, doesn't God love us on an even greater level.  Yet He still allows us to make our mistakes & it probably makes His heart cringe!  My heart hurts just thinking about my children having to go through painful things, little alone watching them.  When do we let go & when do we hang on tight?  Can anybody answer that question with complete certainty?