Nobody is going to agree with you 100%. Hell, I don’t even agree with myself more than 85% of the time.

And don’t even worry about how your kids feel about you day-to-day, some days a hero and some days a zero. If I had a nickel for every time I heard “I hate you” because of chores, or a concert not gone to…that’s not what you have to worry about. What you have to look to is who they are going to be at 21, 25, 30 and beyond, and aim for that.

And only you can do that for your kids. The secretary in the school office is concerned with her work, not yours. Stop apologizing.

You’ll make mistakes, I know I have, but you have to allow for that. Forgive yourself and move on. They’ll survive them and forgive you, too.

I had battles with my kids through their teen years, but with patience, strength, love and a little bit of luck, we all survived.

My daughters are now 30 and 32, with kids of their own, hard working, loving and more like me than they would care to admit (the good and bad). But I’m proud of them and they of themselves.

And that is the goal.