Written for EO by Russell Benaroya, a member of EO Seattle and currently the owner of Stride, a fully managed back office accounting and HR services company helping high growth organizations move forward faster.

My wife is a parenting coach and educator, a licensed therapist and a social worker. And I’m an entrepreneur. I see the world through a lens of abundance and possibility. You would think that we had this kid thing all under control. No issues, right? I ooze solving problems and I encourage my kids to think in a similar way. We got this. If all goes according to plan, we will have architected the most well-adjusted, abundance-seeking, emotionally intelligent kids around.

And that is when I wake up from my dream, in a cold sweat and realize that whatever fantasy I concocted going into this got thrown out the door quickly. And only then can I see that the road is about thousands of micro learning moments, not just for the kids, but for all of us. And those learning moments will not come without struggle and self-reflection joy and anger, but it is there, within those moments, that we find ourselves. Today, with a 14-year old daughter (Maya) and a 12-year old son (Shane), the journey for all of us continues.