Independence and Will we ever get there?

For as long as I can remember, my own personal dream for my daughter was to get her as independent as possible. As a very young child, that started with her learning to entertain herself. Well, that was not that difficult because as a shy person my daughter didn't really mind playing in her room by herself. She didn't even mind playing by herself when other kids were there. Needless to say, we encouraged her to socialize and helped her to find opportunities to be with her peers. The goal for independence continued with simple tasks like learning to dress herself, getting her own snacks, pouring her own drinks and all other tasks that most children eventually learn to do themselves. Doing homework on her own was a different story. A lot of abstract and mathematical concepts were challenging for my daughter. So we made time to sit with her and go over these type of lessons. A lot of time was needed so a lot of time was spent on teaching her. Tutors were a crucial part of this activity. We had to maintain a balance between fully helping her and backing off that help slowly so she could learn to do homework independently. Not an easy job and I know a lot of parents (maybe even all parents) will agree with me on this. We are not expected to spend all our lives helping them with homework even in their college years, are we?
Commuting was another aspect my daughter had to master fairly quickly. Living in New York City means learning how to use public transportation. In middle school, that 15 to 20 minute walk was quite easy to do on a nice day. She did have to learn how to take the bus on days when that was necessary. My husband spent about 2 weeks showing her how to do this step by step. The first few times he rode the bus with her, they sat together. Then he would sit away from her and have her figure out what to do. All this time, he rode with her for the entire trip. Then he would just take her to the bus stop. Eventually, she learned to do the whole thing herself. Learning to take the subway was a similar process. This is not to say that the experience is without incidents. During her freshman year in high school, we taught her to take the bus to school which was now much farther away from home. On one of the first solo trips coming home, she missed her stop and ended up in a secluded area. She asked the bus driver how to get back. This was the one day my daughter forgot her cell phone and, of course, that made things worse. My husband was waiting at a designated spot for her. He was frantic and in touch with me during the entire waiting period. This child made her parents age 20 years with this experience. But we made sure we didn't scold her because we were extremely proud of how she solved the problem. Nevermind that the wrinkles on our faces tripled in volume. I can get botox someday. The one thing that has been a requirement for her while she commutes on her own is that she carry her cellphone at all times. She takes the subway to and from school and can even take the subway to Manhattan with friends. She has no qualms about watching a Broadway show alone. There are so many other aspects of life where I would love to see her exercise more independence. But this is a start. In time, we will get there.