Upon re-reading I realize my last sentence did not come out exactly as I wanted to say it. What I really meant was that in the end (when they left the house) I

Upon re-reading I realize my last sentence did not come out exactly as I wanted to say it. What I really meant was that in the end (when they left the house) I realized that you both have and haven't a lot of influence on your children. And even though I'm really happy with the way they turned out, and we like patting ourselves on the back for that, it's just as true that things could have gone sideways so easily due to bad luck, circumstances, things not under our control. And all the good intentions beforehand notwithstanding: people have their faults, have bad days, can be unlucky. Love, understanding, empathy, and humility make life so much better for everyone.