Sometimes parents need to let their kids fail at something, or at least learn there are better ways to solve problems. It’s part of growing up, and it is hard to teach. I call these incidents Reality Calibrations.

Sometimes parents need to let their kids fail at something, or at least learn there are better ways to solve problems. It’s part of growing up, and it is hard to teach. I call these incidents Reality Calibrations.
As children age their relationships with their parents change. This new school year marks some milestones in my house. They are affecting me a little more than I expected.
Since my father passed away I find myself thinking of him daily. Sure I have his obituary hanging on my fridge; a stark reminder that he's no longer a phone call or short drive away. He is the furthest away anyone can possibly be from anther person. But I don't need that photo of him and that brief snippet, which painfully encapsulates his life in one short paragraph of near meaninglessness, to remind me that he is dead and gone.