Parenting is one of the most tedious, even scary, things that a person ever does in his lifetime.  Walk a tight wire over Niagara Falls, free-fall out of an airplane, climb Mt. Everest, or hang glide over Tokyo and you are apt to walk away from it.  But this business of parenting can do you in for sure.  It comes with no guarantees, and there are no return lines where you can trade in a kid and start over.