I'm not the only older parent in my family.

Yes, I am the oldest older parent (not that we need to point that out all that often, thank you very much), and the only adoptive older parent, but geezers with kids are not rare buds on my family tree.

Forty-ish with babies has happened often enough ... even my dad fit the category, being thirty-seven when my youngest brother was born ... and if we thought about it long enough to take a for-or-against stance, I'd say we're all pretty well in favor.

One of my brothers just turned fifty-four last month (Happy Birthday!), and has an eight-year-old and a five-year-old, so fully qualifies to wear that older parent sash I keep around the house for those days I just have to pull out the tiara and scepter and strut about a bit.

Since his kids are both bio, no one thought to hammer him about any perceived lapses in sanity or trot out those math jumps that do the "when the kid is __, you'll be __" thing often heard at the beginning of adoption processes. Family members pretty much stuck to the it's-about-time theme, and I suspect his friends included more than a few who were making babies at roughly the same time and age he was finally getting around to it.

Whether it's because he waited a while to start a family, or not, he's been a great dad from Day One. Surprisingly for one with stern opinions about parenting in his younger days when the kids were mine and not his, he is very patient and much cuddlier than I would have anticipated. Although a very busy man, there has always been time for kid-focused time and activities, and he and his wife provide the gentle and encouraging environment that children thrive in.

Continued ...