The saying goes “practice makes perfect”, but I am not seeking perfection.  I want to be so well practiced that the thing, whatever it is, becomes instinctive.  I don’t want to have to think and remember how to parent The Boy with respect.  I don’t want to have to check back to my life rules and wonder if/how they apply to this situation.

I have stopped checking in with my life rules.  Practice has made familiarity, it is leaning towards instinctive.  Practice has also extended to everyone.  I don’t have a way of interacting with him, and a different way of interacting with the rest of the world.

I now live my life rules.  I live them with a 3 year old child of a friend, with the acutely sick individual I encounter in work, with the random person on the internet, with my colleagues (whether they are young enough to be my child or old enough to be my parent).

I don’t ration respect.  I don’t have a quota of tolerance.  I don’t have a quantum of consideration.  The more I do it, the more I want to do it.

Frank Cross, as portrayed by Bill Murray in the movie Scrooged, said it better than I could…

It can happen every day! You've just got to want that feeling!
You'll want it every day! It can happen to you!
I believe in it now.
I believe it's gonna happen to me, now. I'm ready for it!
And it's great. It's a good feeling.
It's better than I've felt in a long time.
I'm ready.