Thanks Dad!

So, after all the Father's Day festivities with J and our kids- including church, I'm back at home where I am sitting and reading the Sunday paper. I ran across this article. In case you don't feel like reading the whole article, "Career Tips 101 for New Grads", here's a quick highlight-

Time to cut those apron strings. Your parents may have a lot of great career advice for you. But it'll probably backfire if you bring them to the interview or invite them to meet your new manager.
Cliff Garinn, a counselor at the University of Texas at Arlington, said that last semester one parent accompanied a student to an on-campus job interview. And another mother showed up for a training session on developing job skills.
"She said, `Well, my son was supposed to come, but he had something better to do, so he sent me,'" Garinn said. "I said, `Would you do that if he couldn't go to work?'"

On one hand, I am astonished that these helicopter parents continue to treat their adult children as if they were toddlers. On the other hand, I see it all the time... I know parents who drop everything when their child calls home because he forgot his lunch (Guess what- your child won't starve if he misses a meal, and I bet next time he'll remember!) And we've all heard of parents who micromanage their kids' homework (or even worse, do it for them). To some extent, schools enable these parents with services such as School Loop which notify parents of every single assignment and grade posted. As parents, J and I, strive to teach our kids self-sufficiency and to take responsibility for their own actions. But Teenage Son's high school does use School Loop, and I have to admit that sometimes I have to hold myself back from using the service to hover over him.

So as I climb down off my soapbox, and in honor of Father's Day- I want to say "Thanks!" to my dad. As an only child, he was always there to help me when I needed him, but he also helped me to stand on my own two feet. It was from Dad, that I learned life skills like how to change my own oil, change a tire, or replace a fan belt. He taught me how fix things around the house- especially when you don't think that you have the right parts or tools. And he taught me how to let go when your kids are growing up and let them fly- even if their wings are a little shaky at first.