The hard­est part of par­ent­ing is hav­ing to watch life hap­pen for your chil­dren, from the side­lines, know­ing that when life crum­bles for them, for a while, that all you can do is offer them a lis­ten­ing ear and a soft place to land. When, in real­ity, you’d like to knock the sonofa_ _ _ _ _ right out of the ball­park for caus­ing so much pain and hurt to some­one you have loved since con­cep­tion. Sigh.