Update and New Pup!

I have not posted in so long, and the cliche' holds true, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." The kids are two years older, I've changed jobs, but I have a new foster pup coming to stay with us on Saturday.

With both kids in High School (one of them driving!) my parenting focus has changed from chef, chauffeur, and therapist to short order cook, talented teen tracker, and private investigator. The kids are definitely more self-reliant, but probably need more guidance now than ever.

I've gone from working as a 4th Grade reading tutor back into the business world as a recruiter for software startup companies. It's challenging, certainly interesting, and best of all...I work from home!

Working from home means I can be around to help out a pup in need, who would have otherwise been euthanized at the shelter in Tennessee. Her name is Kenya, and she is an Anatolian/German Shepherd mix from Tennessee. I think that means she is going to be BIG!

Stay tuned to find out where Kenya ends up living in her "forever home!"

Driving Through Life

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about driving. I recently spent many hours "watching the world go by" at the Massachusetts RMV to get my license renewed, and while waiting for the "next available agent" I realized I've been driving for 30 years! Meanwhile, I recently posted an article on the Boston Examiner about "Why parents are scared to death when their teenagers drive." Simultaneously, I've had many conversations recently with my siblings about my 86 year-old father retiring his car keys for good, before someone is seriously injured on the road.

No matter how you look at it, driving is a rite of passage, either into adulthood or out of the mainstream and into old age. I vividly remember the freedom I felt when I first became a driver. I loved the responsibility of driving to my job in High School, or not needing a ride to choir rehearsal. Currently, as a parent of two teenagers, driving can certainly be a chore (especially when Lil'J and I are combing every craft store on Boston's north shore for Styrofoam balls for his science project!) But, I still get a thrill when I set out on a road trip, that sense of freedom is still burning under the surface.

This history of driving, the practicality of getting from point A to point B, as well as the freedom driving represents, makes it all the more difficult to deal with the challenges we face as our parents age and their driving capabilities diminish.

And yet there is a parallel in life. I imagine I will be incredibly worried when my teens take the road, especially given the statistics on teen driving reported in my article. At this point in life, I also spend time worrying about my father's driving. And I realize that my parents, thirty years ago, were in this exact position -- worrying about their children as well as their own parents. Furthermore, my children, in the distant future, will have to ask me to stop driving at some point in my old age, probably just when their own children take to the road.

Yes, we all know that life is cyclical. But sometimes, you find yourself at the RMV, waiting to do the eye exam and have your picture taken, watching teenagers line up for the drivers test, and giving your seat to an elderly person who's about to renew their license, and it all becomes really clear -- where you've been, where you are, and where you're going.