Follow the Trail of Broken Corn Chips to Enlightenment and Better Parenting

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

Earlier this fall, I lost my son. Spoiler alert, I found him and everything is OK.

I used to be the perfect parent. Before I had kids, I knew exactly how to teach values, implement fair and effective discipline and raise miniature people with just the right blend of personality, polite manners and FUN.

Then I actually had kids and it all went to hell.

The poopy diapers and sleepless nights were no big deal. I expected meltdowns, temper tantrums and middle of the night fevers.

But there have been a whole host of other experiences that I didn’t expect and those are the ones that really send me for a loop.

One Saturday last October, I was moving at a frenetic pace trying to catch up on everything I had neglected during the previous workweek and trying to get ahead so that the next workweek would be less crazy.

I was in the middle of laundry, dishes, yardwork, cleaning, winterizing and also parenting. My daughter, 8, was upstairs in her bedroom tucked deep into a graphic novel trying to avoid chores.

My son, cute as anything at 3, was playing with cars and trucks in the basement.