{"id":4274,"date":"2024-11-22T17:03:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T23:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/dw_blog\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2024-11-22T17:03:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T23:03:49","slug":"lessons-you-learn-from-your-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/dw_blog\/lessons-you-learn-from-your-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons you learn from your kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Camping with my son a long minute ago.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I just learned something from my son. He\u2019s older and wiser than me now.<\/p>\n

We had a public disagreement on Facebook, and he really let me have it. It hurt, though that wasn\u2019t his intent. The details don\u2019t matter; they\u2019re just between us. The point is that he taught me something.<\/p>\n

For the sake of this essay, I\u2019ll call my son Jeremy because that\u2019s his name.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m 73, and Jeremy\u2019s 47, but sometimes I still think of him as a kid.<\/p>\n

I do, but I don\u2019t. It\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n

I knew he was an adult when he went off to college nearly 30 years ago, but that\u2019s where most of my personal memories of him end. That\u2019s where we started to grow apart.<\/p>\n

The tricky thing about parenting is that you have two lifelong relationships with your children: when they need you and when they don\u2019t. It\u2019s the whole point of parenting, right? Give them what they need and then let them go on to live their own lives.<\/p>\n

Forty years after this picture, Jeremy has a long, happy marriage and a brilliant adult child of his own. In many ways, he\u2019s the finest man I know. And sure, I take some credit, but just a bit. He also has a mother, a stepmother, teachers, friends, and a thousand other inspirations I know nothing about.<\/p>\n

Children grow up and fly away from the nest, but as just one parent, your relationship is grounded in the past of birthday parties, Christmas mornings, and teary, skinned knees. You try to hold onto that feeling but reach a point where your heart can\u2019t follow.<\/p>\n

We stay in touch, but sometimes I need to be reminded that my son hasn\u2019t lived with me for well over half of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have nothing in common but his childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

My wife of 37 years lovingly explained that to me a few nights ago.<\/p>\n

Jeremy and I still love and respect each other. We just told each other so. And in the wisdom of age, we\u2019re probably closer now than ever.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s just hard to keep up.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m still letting him go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just learned something from my son. He\u2019s older and wiser than me now. We had a public disagreement on Facebook, and he really let me have it. It hurt, though that wasn\u2019t his intent. The details don\u2019t matter; they\u2019re just between us. The point is that he taught me something. For the sake of … Continue reading “Lessons you learn from your kids”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,434,435,53,576,375,534,533,535,536],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging","category-dads","category-fathers","category-parenting","category-sons","category-texas","category-theater","category-willie-mays","category-words","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nLessons you learn from your kids : The Aging of Aquarius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The tricky thing about parenting is that you have two lifelong 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