The Wind Beneath

Like most parents, I spend at least some of my time reminding my kids of all the things they are able to do because I work, schlep, shuttle, get up early, and do whatever else it takes to enable them to do what they want. It's true--we parents make a lot of sacrifices to provide the best for our kids.
 
But as I walked home tonight, I began to think about all the things my kids (and my husband, my sitter, my friends, the doorman, and more people than I can list) do to enable me to do the things that I want to do. Because I work in TV production (rarely a 9 to 5 endeavor), my husband and children sometimes eat dinner and do homework without me. My sitter often knows more about my family schedule than I do, and rolls with my days of work, dark days (the expected and unexpected ones), and schedule changes, without so much as a pause. My friends say "hang in" when I need it, and understand when my emails are few and when they are a lifeline. And my family believes that what I am doing is worth it (mostly) and possible, even when I'm not so sure.
 
There are absolutely days when my kids would leave home ill-clothed and underfed if not for my efforts, and when the extra things they do are possible because I work to make them possible. But there are just as many days when I wouldn't have a prayer of being a success at work if not for their (and a lot of other people's) patience and understanding and faith. I may be the set of wings that keeps our family moving, but they, and all the other tolerant people in my life, are the wind that keeps those frantically flapping wings in the air.