Bad Parenting Decisions

Yesterday, I let both kids skip school to attend the Seahawks parade in downtown Seattle. I know. I barely recognize myself. We are not a football family, and typically when the kids tell us what their friends are allowed to do, we are quick to joke (or not joke): “How sad they have such terrible parents.” 

But times have been grim, and my personal brain trust was unanimous: Of course you must let them go. As one friend explained, it’s “an irreplaceable experience of unity and joy.” And it was—see pic above.

There were grave consequences, though. Not to the kids, but to my writing. I will explain. 

Every week, I enlist at least one—sometimes both—of my kids to serve as my editor. I do this partly because I don’t think they write enough, and I want to talk about writing with them as much as I can. But also: they make my posts better. Teens are impatient and ruthless, two extremely valuable editorial qualities. 

In retrospect, I should have held my AI post until they had time to work with me. Lesson learned and here you go: this leaner version is way better.