did. The biggest thing my wife and I did from the time our kids were little was pick our battles.

It may seem overly simplified, but I generally tried to ask two questions before deciding what road to go down when I saw my kids were going to make a mistake:

1) Will this mistake or choice impact them negatively in a major way in the future or eternally?

2) Are they being a totally disrespectful jerk to me or others?

If the answer was no to both, I gave them tons of leeway. I would rather have them experience a bit of pain and disappointment and learn how to rectify problems sooner rather than later. I also never cared if they were the best at anything, and I never had a deep-seated desire that they develop some mind-blowing talent. I always wanted them to develop their talents where their interests coincided.

I think I may be a bit different though. I love teenagers. For all of their moodiness and seeming imbalance at time, they are so much fun. They can do things for themselves, you get to have real conversations with them, you get to play things with them that don't require you to step on legos or crawl around on your hands and knees for what can seem like hours. My kids were adorable when they were small, but their teenage years have been great, and I am sad to see them moving on.

The only thing I was hard and fast on was the rule that if they made their mom cry, we were going to have a big problem.

But get back to me when I am a grandparent, and I will tell you how I think I did as a parent.