Growing Versions

Anytime I have been stumped by a problem, I have turned to my trusty pet solution: Work Harder. Money trouble? Work Harder Relationship trouble? Work Harder Career trouble? Work Harder Lice? Worker Harder Lately, I've been introduced to a new solution: Learning. What should I do about this problem?  Working Harder seems to be making it worse?  Learning how to improve things and when to forget it seems to be a better solution. So far, I've learned a lot and I've had more naps. Seems to be better already. I found this  article  a very interesting take on learning our way out instead of working our way out.

My daughter is growing up.  She is funny and caring and she loves to write. Like many mother and daughters before us, our relationship is getting trickier.  Her job is to grow up and apart, my job is to help her doing that safely and steadily (isn't it?).  Those two job descriptions are, as you would expect, often at cross-purposes, or so it seems. I have come to expect that a certain level of conflict in our relationship is inevitable and normal and to back off when I get too sucked into its undertow.  However, at times, I miss those easy days when she looked to me first for ideas, suggestions and merrily (usually) went along with them. These days, she is exercising her birthright of controlling her own life by rolling her eyes at my harebrained schemes, feeble attempts at getting my children out of doors or socializing. I miss the discussions most of all where we had time to talk, not just about video games, but about things she thought were interesting....