Many years ago when our children were little, my husband and I went through a rough patch in our marriage as we adapted to our relatively new parental roles and tried to understand how we each had changed and been changed through the process. We sought the help of a counselor who, after meeting for the first time, assigned us the task of writing a family mission statement. Covertly we both rolled our eyes, but, good students that we were, we completed the assignment. Now, a dozen years later, I am still surprisintly fond of that mission statement. The last paragraph, in particular, which seemed so futuristic when we wrote it, is becoming more and more in focus. "As we grow older we will seek flexibility in dealing with new situations as they arise. We hope to gracefully transition from the parent/child relationship to that of a peer with our children. We hope to always learn from and accept the values, cultures, and spiritual beliefs of others. And may our children and their...