Four Decades

It's amazing...how much time you put in on this planet really makes a difference.
My wife turned 40 today.
What a difference a year makes.
It makes me reflect on how much of a difference it can make in your parenting style.
At 40, you learn not to sweat the 'small stuff'.  At 20, you go completely ballistic if your kid spills milk on the carpet.
But at 20, you have enough energy to spend on your kid to tire THEM out.  At 40, when they're ready for bed, so are you.
I'm glad I had a girl.  Because I would have had to hit the gym if my wife gave birth to a son.
Not to keep up physically so I could play with him...so I could kick his backside if he got sassy with me.
Hey, I often wondered what kept me alive all those years when my mouth overrode my sensibilities as far as my Dad was concerned.
There is some modicum of truth in the phrase 'age is just a number'.  You're only as old as you feel.
And granted, we haven't aged as quickly as we did in years past.  We learned the dangers of smoking.  We choose a glass of red wine over a six-pack.  We pick up poultry or seafood over beef in the meat department at the supermarket.
And...we've even managed to find time to exercise.  All in the name of keeping our good numbers up and our bad numbers down.
Because, as parents, we have to set a good example for our kids.
That's important.
With more children becoming afflicted with heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other maladies, we need to show them the merits of getting and staying healthy.
We want our kids to make to milestone birthdays like these.
And beyond.
Perhaps they'll live long enough to find out that medical science has progressed to the point where living to 100 is like living to 80 today.
And that they make the most of those years.
Because this is the one shot we have on this globe.
No more.


NEXT WEEK:  Lights Out