thisdadstayshome

My parents arrived this week, straight from the East Coast with their friends on Harley Davidson motorcycles. Cool defined is when your 60-year-old parents are cooler than you are.

You won’t see me cruising Iowa roads anytime soon decked out in leather; not even on a moped, or a tricycle, for that matter.

They are on their second childhood…..I finally realized I am no longer on my first. Their idea of adventure is riding their Hogs to…well…wherever.

My version usually involves deciding if I should chance the top step of my stepladder so I can get the leaves out of the gutter.

I see my parents dismount from their Harley in their riding leather and reflect.

I recall my mother telling me how she constantly watched me when I first started mowing the yard. I would roll my eyes, argue and claim her argument was ridiculous.

And, now, suddenly, I discover the same argument spewing out of my mouth.

I find myself watching my middle child. He just dumped the training wheels on his bike and is now convinced he can go anywhere, anytime. 

He ventures into the street, I flip out, channel my mother’s words and get the exact same look I shot my mother 30 years ago.

Somewhere in there, a shift occurs. Your parents realize they actually got through to you, turn you loose on your own parenting adventures and start having fun.

Your responsibility is to apply what you have learned and do your best to pass it on to your children.

And then, someday in the distant future, if all goes well, you find yourself on a Harley riding cross-country on the way to see your grandchildren.

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