We have had some challenging times in our home the last few weeks. My oldest has an official driver's license which has helped me out so much with the "family taxi," but has also given him more freedom and unsupervised time. One of my girls got into trouble at school (she was defending herself, and I'm behind her choice all the way, but she has to face the consequences of her actions), and my other girl is going through her teen Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde emotions. I have said out loud more than once that I would like to just skip the teenage years. 
But then I heard a story about a woman who had a stroke and woke up having forgotten the last ten years of her life. When her kids came to visit her, they were strangers to her. The last time she remembered seeing her kids they were young elementary students, but standing beside her were grown kids in their early twenties. I began to consider if given the choice, would I skip all the good parts of my kids growing to avoid the heart wrenching moments? 
Would I skip the dramatic tears and the nights of worry if it meant I would miss the laughter and camaraderie as our family morphs into its new shape?
Would you?
