One of the surprise benefits of divorce is getting to spend time with my kids on my terms. This week I’m at the beach with my 15 year old daughter and 3 of her friends. Teenage girls definitely treat dads differently than moms. They are remarkably relaxed and happy. No one hassles them aside from me making sure they put sunscreen on, etc. I’m here to keep an eye on them and keep them safe and fed. They basically pretend I’m not here and the conversations I hear are hilarious, definitely stuff they wouldn’t say in front of their moms. I get a nice week relaxing in the sun and a chance to interact with these almost grown ladies that I’ve known since they were babies. The icing on the cake is that their moms trust me probably more than my ex because guess who was at the playground, ball games, school events when they were growing up? Yep me and not my ex even though I worked full time and she worked a few hours a week. It makes me happy to hear the parenting success stories, keep it up gents