There is a small satisifaction in middle age as your kids get older. You get to share the normal daily rhythms with your kids. You are no longer hostage to the nap schedule, meltdowns, and the world stopping around 6pm. You can have conversations with other parents that last more than 17 seconds before somebody needs something. You get to sit on the sidelines of a soccer field on a sunny afternoon in September and enjoy the weather. You can solicit input from your kids about what to do next, and frequently their ideas are pretty great. That’s how you end up having pizza together, drinking root beer, and giggling wildly as you watch Bluey.