The Hardest Job

Being a parent is a big responsibility. No shit, right? Well, what you aren't told when you become a parent is that it is also the hardest job that you'll never get paid for.

That's right...there is no monetary compensation for being a parent. Instead, you pay through the nose for [at least] eighteen years, with absolutely no return on that investment.

Okay, so I'm full of shit. There is the potential for a big return on that investment, but it doesn't pay in cash. Rather, the payment you receive is something much more intangible, but when you get it, seems more valuable than any amount of money.

"What's that?" you ask. I'll tell you. In the long term, you can count on your children loving you, and often respecting you. When they're young, that love and respect is almost overwhelming, and is given to you freely. When your children get into their teens, they may still love you, but the respect seems to disappear, and they probably won't even like you.

But that's okay. There's plenty of time (if we're lucky) for them to like us later. The love is nice, but the respect would be better. If they respected us, then maybe they'd fucking listen to us!!!

But alas, they don't. Being a good parent, though, means continuing to do the best we can even if the 'payment' seems long past due. Someday, we might collect--if my children grow up healthy and happy and moderately successful, I will have been paid in full.

I recently reminded one of my kids that when they were born, the hospital didn't hand us a book that had all the answers to perfect parenting. The most we can do is the best that we can, and try to set our kids upon a path that will allow them to eventually lead fulfilling lives, with as few regrets as possible.

But sometimes, as parents, we have to let our children make mistakes; let them trip and fall without us there to pick them up; in short, to let them live their lives.

We expected no less when we were their age...

And so it goes...