Right Track

Every parent hopes their child will grow up to be great.  And happy.  Definitely happy.  Not that they’re mutually exclusive, greatness and happiness, and not that the choice is ours, but if it were up to me, and if it could only be one or the other, I’d want him to be happy.
But there are so many things I want him to be.

We are vigilant, up to date on vaccine research, masters of nutritional information, purveyors of response to perpetual "what's that?"s, cognizant of our own deficiencies.  We make smart, sensible parenting choices.  We encourage him, waving our hands forward as if pushing confidence through the air to him with our “go on, you can do it"s!  At the slightest suggestion that he's disappointed us he often pours out apologies before he even seems quite sure what it is we'd like him to regret.  Our influence on his development is already apparent, simultaneously reassuring and unnerving.

Creating boundaries and enforcing consequences have proven to be more challenging than I anticipated.  Ironically, perhaps, his sister’s disease has made me less protective and more permissive.  I want Tucker to live fully and fearlessly (although certainly mindful of the difference between fearless and foolhardy).

Right now he is happy, and he is great.  And I hope we can help him continue to head that direction.

JEB