Perspective Has Changed

When I was 16, 17, 18 years old, I did what a lot of my contemporaries did: I made out with my girlfriend(s), I smoked, I drank alcohol, I smoked pot.

I drove like an idiot (which the studies say most teenage boys are until they reach their late twenties), and acted pretty much like one. I thought with my balls instead of my brain, which made for lots of fun but no clear future.

Thirty years later, I'm pretty much the same guy that I was then, except for one major change--I'm a parent.

As a parent, I wonder what my own children are doing--and with whom!

Is my daughter making out with her boyfriend--and just what liberties is he taking with my little girl. Is he taking the same liberties with her that I did with someone's little girl so long ago? The thought makes me shudder, and reach for the shotgun.

Is my son taking similar liberties with another man's daughter? Are these the thoughts that went through my parents' minds thirty years ago?

I clearly remember my teenage and young adult years. I had a lot of fun, and I guess I want my children to have fun in their teen years, too.

But...not with my daughter!!! And son, be careful.

Holy shit. I sound like a parent. I've become my Dad...

Is this when youth is truly lost? When you realize that what you did in your youth wasn't necessarily the best choices you've ever made? And when you try to protect your children from making the same mistakes that you would have resented your parents for trying to keep you from doing?

Parental responsibility vs. youth. Do I have a choice???

And so it goes...