Parents, remember when we were young and free and we didn’t care about anything in the world? Remember how we used to think that our parents needed to relax and have a little more fun? We were so carefree. We weren’t scared of anything back then, huh? Well now, all these years later, I wonder what the hell happened to us.

I’ll tell you what I think happened to us … We became parents. I remember being a big tough guy in the body of a little boy who never showed fear or shed a tear. Then I grew up and became the body of a big man as a father and then somehow I became a little crybaby again. It’s crazy. All of this has somewhat surprised me, and I bet you have too, huh?

Has this happened to you? I am watching a movie with my children and a child gets hurt and for some crazy reason I start crying silently. I try to hide it as best I can. But my children hear me sob and see wet eyes. Then laugh and make fun of me. It’s quite a humbling experience for this former tough guy. Tell me. Has this happened to you?

What about this one? My wife and I finally put the kids to bed and sat down to spend some time alone watching our late-night TV show. The next thing I know, I will cry silently again because the mother of a child has died. Then I look at my wife and notice that she is crying too. Someone should have warned us that parenting is very emotional.

Now, as my grandfather always said: “Go learn, lead and open the way to a better world for all of us.” Parenting should come with a warning label. But if it did, would we listen to it? Probably not. And that could be a good thing because sometimes we don’t know what is right for us. And believe it or not, parenting is good for us. And once again parents, thank you in advance for all that you do and all that you will do …