Having kids at such an advanced age...and I'm talking about me, not my kids who are still quite young...brings many people to share with me that "I'll bet they keep you young!"  Well, not exactly. At times they make me feel quite old.

And being a parent has caused me to at times think that I never gave my parents the credit and respect they deserved, and oddly, sometimes I think I gave them too much credit.

Knowing what a struggle it is to remain sane and to be a good attentive parent, putting natural inclinations to do what I want to do aside to do what's best for the kids is a daily struggle, though one that I've gotten used to (and having such cool kids makes it a heckuva lot easier) and is certainly a lot more difficult than my kids realize, I'm sure and more so than I realized when I was their age.

At the same time, when I think about how much I idolized my parents, had them up so high on a pedestal, and still do, I realize that they were no better than anyone else. They didn't have to pass any tests to have kids, at least none I am aware of in this physical realm. They just had us and did the best they knew how to raise us, which most of the time was damn good, and sometimes wasn't.

And I am sure that my dad was a better dad than his dad was, and I am pretty sure I am a better dad than my dad was, and I have no doubt that Trev will be an even better dad than I am. And maybe that is the best gift we can give our kids of all - the knowledge and desire to be the best parent we can be.