Finding Your Place.

As we finish our hiatus in Florida and leave behind the sunshine and beautiful waters, I am ready to get back to my routine and our home. No matter where you go, home is always the most comfortable place to be. We have had a great trip. Three weeks in Florida in February is tough to beat. It has been good getting outside, seeing friends, and being in such a beautiful place. We are so fortunate to have careers that are portable. Have laptop, can travel, can work.

We had dinner on a couple occasions with our dear friends, Kathy and Brian O’Boyle. They are our backyard neighbors in Williamstown and our cross town neighbors here in February. Great people that we enjoy so much. We had a brief conversation at dinner about how our roles as parents change as our kids grow up and have partners and kids. It got me thinking.

Our daughter Emmy and her boyfriend Blake live in Largo, about 3 hours from Marco Island where we have been staying. They came down for the weekend and we took a boat cruise to Key West for the day. They have developed a strong partnership and seem very happy. As a parent, it is good to see. We want our children to have good partners that are their advocates.

However, as a parent it is challenging to determine your place as your children fill their lives with new people they love, trust, and confide in. You still have the same parental instincts and advice, but they don’t really ask for your help as much as they used to. Which is a good thing, but we still have so many things we want to tell them.

I find myself hoping that they will ask my advice because I know that I should not share it unsolicited. Even though I still do sometimes. I guess there is a part of me that still needs to be needed. Even though logically, I want all of our kids to be very independent. It is a conundrum, indeed.

We will be visiting Chelsey and Kendall in late March as they plan for their May wedding. They are a good team, complementing each other in many ways. From Texas to now Arkansas, they have tackled the world and made their way together. We don’t get to see them very often, but when we do, I am sure to slip in some “dad advice” anywhere I can just in case they need it, or not.

Garret and Kristen get off the hook a little bit because I have so much I want to tell these two little dudes! But, I am still a parent to their parents, and I hope they feel they can ask me anything.

As the youngest, Lea still leans on us a lot for advice. But I know that will change as she continues to make her way in the world. She will be graduating from college in the spring and starting the next chapter of her life.

With all four of our children, I try hard to keep my mouth shut and let them live their lives. But the door is always open. As older parents, we just hope our kids walk through it on occasion and let us be parents again.

I also feel like I have gained three additional children (Kristen, Kendall, Blake) that I am here for at all times. I want them to feel comfortable leaning on me when needed. I am invested in them and love them. This is an even more delicate role in that they have their own parents to seek counsel when needed.

I will be over here if anybody needs me.

Dorothy was Right.

Siblings…I don’t get it.