"YOU DON'T KNOW": BECOMES, "YOU DID KNOW, AFTER ALL, MOM"

Today, I received an unexpected gift.  It was a simple, yet complex gift.  My daughter finally understood why I used to tell her that I couldn't go to sleep when she was out at night.  I worried about her safety and even though she poo-poohed me at the time, I would explain that until she was once again safely home, I couldn't sleep, so the curfew was to be honored. 

When she told me that she finally "got it", I asked her why and she explained that a drunk driver was in jail after killing someone.  This is not the first time (and I know it won't be the last) that a drunk driver escaped unharmed after killing someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It's just that now my daughter works in the place where that drunk is kept until trial.  So after all those years of sticking to my guns and praying for my daughter's safety has led us to this day.  The day that my daughter has matured into a place of understanding and appreciation.  I am grateful for her clear thinking and hope she remembers my way of parenting when in a few years she is watching over a precious boy who will want to go and explore the world. 

Stay strong, be firm and love him with the knowledge that the brain doesn't reach full maturity until the twenties.  Good luck, Sweetie.  If you thought, colic was tough, wait until he's thirteen and, "You don't know" is thrown at you.