Growing Up

I noticed parents dropping everything to pick up a call, working late, missing games, recitals, to be latchkey kids required absent parents. In the workforce now I see gray haired folks complain that their kids aren’t giving them the time of day. But what can else can you expect? I was a burden and told no “not now, the adults are talking go play quiet.” Or told nothing at all because no one was around. I was a burden and shirked as often as possible. Raised by the TV. You worked late to try to make a better life, but for who?

And now when the parent is the burden, they stick their lower lip out because they aren’t getting their way. “I sacrificed so much.” Maybe, but I didn’t ask for fancy vacations or new cars. I wanted to have dinner with you, not Burger King on the way to sportsball or Scouts.

And then I see the other side of it, starting a business (and then failing at the business). Being available to customers so they know they can rely on me so that I can build a good life for my family, my little girl. Anxiety that I’m not doing enough and that’s why things aren’t going the way I want.

And then she looks up and says “Daddy play?”

What am I teaching her about her value, how to treat others, how to treat others when they aren’t convenient, how to love, what it means to be loved, how important things are or aren’t.