3 teenage daughters on a boat

I have three teenage daughters, ages 12, 14, and 16. And for some crazy reason, my wife and I decided to take these three girls and move... onto a boat.So that's my life right now. It's wild. We have stories.But actually, this post is less about that, and more about the gentle reminder that each human you are raising is completely different. While we can instill in them certain values (although I'm still trying to verify that we've actually done that), we have found that much of who they are is really in their DNA. My youngest acts like her aunt, my middle child acts just like my mom, and our oldest is this horrifying mix of my wife's fierce independence and my overly analytical-mind. And while some might argue that this is just upbringing that has been trained into them, my middle child only sees my mom a couple of times a year, but a lot of their priorities, their fears, their speech patterns are identical ... my wife basically gave birth to my mom.Anyhow, all this to say, I think young parents spend a lot of time fretting that their day-to-day activities will have a devastating long term impact on their children... but perhaps the meaningful impact you can make is a constant and daily reminder that your home is a safe place for them to explore their identity, make errors without fear of rejection, and that they are loved unconditionally. Hopefully they are. Get those things figured out before spending too much time worrying about the small stuff. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/36a5Vd0