Parenting is like Curling...

It isn't often that I have an insight that drives me back to the blog these days, but this was one for sure.

Throughout these Winter Olympics just past, I (and many of my fellow Americans) have been in turns fascinated and bemused by the hours of curling that appeared on our televisions.  It looks so simple, something that anybody could do -- and yet, it's clearly an elite and exacting sport, with enthusiastic fans. And despite watching what felt like hours of curling as the Olympics went by, I ended up with no better grasp of the rules of the game than when I started.

It was on the day of the closing ceremonies when it hit me... parenting is like curling.

I was helping Joy get dressed, a process that still takes a fair amount of assistance on my part, but I've been working to figure out how to fade that assistance bit by bit.  How much, I wondered, do I actually still need to be smoothing the ice in front of her on these tasks?  Am I sweeping more than I need to, will that actually hurt in the long run?

But hey now, I thought... this isn't just about me and Joy and a pair of recalcitrant socks... this is about ALL OF US.

And just like that, a meme was born.

Parenting is like curling.

We launch our kids across the ice as best we can, and then

it's a long run of split-second decisions as to whether to sweep

the ice in front of them or not.  If we make it too smooth,

they're gonna slide off course.  But without at least some

smoothing, will they get to where they're meant to be going?

And the rules are SO confusing!

Enjoy, and let's see what summer sport gets all the airtime in Toyko in 2020!