Going out to dinner with our six boys was something our family relished.

More and more, one of the most common words I hear from parents is “overwhelmed.”

It’s easy to understand the feeling, especially as we continue to deal with the life-changing challenges of a pandemic. Even without a pandemic, parenting can sometimes leave us feeling like we are drowning, and no one is throwing us a life jacket.

As with most kids in my generation, childhood included exposure to daytime soap operas. We may not have actually taken a seat on the couch to watch them, but we probably have memories of their titles or their theme songs.

When my son and his wife had to spend months at a children’s hospital in another state after the birth of their fourth son, I had the privilege of taking care of the other three brothers.

You can learn a lot when you spend that much time with young children.