Retirement and Parenting

It turns out that retirement is well suited for parenting.  In many places in South Africa, this is taken for granted.  Parents work 25 hours a day and the retired grandparents do much of the actual parenting.  The oldsters I talked to in Rustenburg about this who were about to retire were looking forward to taking care of their kids.  As older types, they have an appreciation for the business of passing on values and love.  Us older types are also able to put things in perspective a little better, having made mistakes without the world dissolving.   

I did find that I had to shift my understanding a bit about what was important.  Power?  Not so much.  Patience?  Yes please.  Efficiency?  Maybe later.  Recognition?  Nope.  

For my whole life, I heard stories about people who were quitting things (usually politicians) who gave as their reason "to spend more time with the family."  I always thought that was some sort of bad excuse.  No.  Folks who are over committed and not spending time with their family who suddenly have a chance to do the right thing for the generations are to be applauded, not gently mocked.   To be fair, no one has ever raised an eyebrow when I turned something down because Valerie might need me.  I guess I am just parading my rotten feelings from how I was before the Valerie event.