rare "cool" parenting moment

There are moments in the life of a parent that are both infrequent and uncommon. This is one such event:

A couple of days ago, Susie was transporting Meg and a friend back to their respective houses, having come from a friend's birthday party. (Please don't tell the police that we don't have a chaffeur's license, because we seem to be running a taxi service for young teens these days.) After dropping the friend off, Meg tells Susie about what the bithday boy's mom did and how this lady acted during the party. After the story, she said something like, "Mom, I know I talk about how some of my friends' parents are so cool, but I'm glad that you're my mom." Simple as that. I think Meg could have told Susie that she had just committed grand larceny and she would have forgiven her with a statement like that.

Things happen to parents these days. Relationships can be broken, addictions can be overwhelming, and the stress of some jobs can cause all kinds of problems. Sometimes, when these things occur, parents can tend to overcompensate and try to be their child's "friend" rather than their parent. Don't get me wrong, I want my daughters to like me. But I also realize that having them like me isn't first and foremost in my list of "job duties" as a parent. I'll have to admit that Susie does an excellent job of balancing these two seemingly divergent tasks. She spends time with Meg every night before she goes to bed. Sometimes I wonder what in the world takes so long, but then again, I'm a guy. Keeping an open dialogue going with kids, especially teenagers, and also letting them realize that there are still boundaries in which they are expected to operate, is key.

So anyway, this was an especially rewarding conversation for Susie. As the girls have grown up over the years, we've been told (by them, many times) that we're mean parents. All it takes is one little statement like the one Meg mad to cover up all those other times.