I somehow deleted my post while drifting off to sleep. It wasn’t long. It also wasn’t very good. Musings about the kids listening to Where the Red Fern Grows while we drive and a question: Is it better to let my kids enjoy the excitement phase of our hero’s puppy love or should I short-circuit their emotional growth by just spelling out what the foreshadowing meant? Let them know right off the bat that the end of this story is going to break their hearts?

But I don’t want to be that grumpy older parent who snorts at the sight of new parents fawning over their baby and declares, “Sure they’re cute now, but just you wait.”

Just you wait.

The words that ruin the joy of now and rob tomorrow of its possibilities. Why would prior generations drop that little bombshell on their younger counterparts? I suppose they’re still reeling from their own less-than-ideal performances. Or they’re not happy and don’t want others to be happy either.

But I say let others feel the full range of emotions–even those in their pure, untried form. For when disappointment, grief, and fear are past, emotions truly felt refine and strengthen us. And how can love’s purest joys be restored if they were never even felt?

That’s all I got. So tired.