The real life

What happened? I was rocking along in my 20s doing all the right things. Going to college, picking a career, getting married, being ambitious. I turned 30 and started having children, raising them "right," according to all the gurus of parenting, taking them to places that would help them morally, exposing them to dance and sports so they could more intelligently pick their own paths when the time came. I turned 40 and started noticing that life wasn't working out according to what I had been taught. Kids had a will of their own, wife had a will of her own, everyone's ends and means to ends were different at home and work. Then the kids left home. Now life really is upside down. What used to not bother me, bothers me so-o-o much now. My toleration level is up in many areas of life, but not in a few. I know where the skeletons are and which battles are really worth fighting. But I have to say that the parenting gurus were wrong, the childhood preachers were so idealistic that their teaching has lost all value, the kids of my loins depend on unconditional love rather than displaying any sense of genuine care of family ties. Life's a bitch and then you die. From the vantage point at the end of this day, it's true.