I’m going to tell you three things about myself, and ask you which one is the hardest to believe.

Back in the days before playlists and Spotify, we had mixtapes. For those not from the 80’s and 90’s, a mixtape was simply a unique collection of songs from various artists copied onto one cassette tape. You could listen to ONLY your favorite songs, right in a row! You could even take them with you, and listen on your Walkman! It was amazing!

I’m not saying Don Henley was a prophet, but I do agree with him that the heart of the matter is the heart, and it matters. Well, maybe that's not exactly what he was singing about, but I still think it's true.

Taking a quick look around, it's easy to see that plenty of people are parents. However, I think we can agree that even though lots of adults are parents, it doesn't mean it's an easy task. So where is the disconnect? Why are people signing up for such a challenging assignment?

Most people don’t sit around saying “You know what? Life is just boring. What we need around here is more drama and crisis! Ready? 1,2,3 BREAK!”

“Take a long walk on a short dock!” is a snappy schoolyard retort, good for voicing our frustrations toward the antagonist of the moment. It can also work just as well for self-pity purposes (and when eating worms isn’t going to get the job done.) “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll take a long walk on a short dock.”

I realized I was totally tensed up in my seat. My hands were gripping the armrests. I was hyper aware of every twitch of the person next to me.

YES! Actually no… Well, probably, kind of?

Maybe I can explain. I’d say yes, because we hear stories about it happening all the time.