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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I think most of parenting is doing what you think is right and hoping for the best. We get abstract feedback on how its going here and there, but that's more in the /absence/ of things happening (kid isn't failing, didn't get in a fight, etc.). But once in awhile an event like your daughter's text exchange comes out of nowhere and let's you know that, yes, that you've been doing good work. I think you've done a good job of articulating what is often really hard to describe.

As for my own upbringing: I'm almost 50, and I'm not sure I've ever heard my mom apologize. Certainly not to me, anyway. Same story with my dad when he was still alive.

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Julie Hester's avatar

Keep going, Jen! Your words need a wider audience. I really like the way you included a more recent example. That's the part that resonated with me the most, maybe because I have recently apologized to both my young adult kids for a couple things I wish I had done differently in their younger years. (Also, I kind of love that you were proud of your daughter/parenting because of her apology, and completely skipped over the use of the word bitch. That would trip up some of the parents I've worked with in my churches. Let's normalize real-life vocabularies in faith-based books and families.) Also thanks for the driver's license image of phone education.

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