Dear Annie: I often read essays about how parenting comes full circle, how the greatest accomplishment of all is raising children who grow into capable, successful adults. That sounds fine and wonderful, and I am truly happy for those families. But I cannot help wondering, what about the rest of us?

Some of us have worked just as hard, sometimes harder, to raise our children with love, structure, and purpose. I spent years going without sleep, working long hours, showing up at every school event, driving to practices, and trying to guide them toward a better life. And yet the results look nothing like those glowing success stories. My children have stumbled, struggled and, in some cases, rejected the values I tried so desperately to instill.

For me, heartache and disappointment have beco

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