My son is learning to fly. For his last birthday our family pooled resources to buy him a flight simulator program. It has real time responses, with google images of every airport on earth. He is using it to hone his skills while still on land, so that the more expensive hours in the air will go quickly. 

 

A few years back my twins had a string of babysitting gigs. They cared for a pack of kids, making food and playing games until mom got home.

 

There was one house that was stunningly beautiful, with edgy architecture. The kids were normal though, and wanted to play "don't touch the floor." My brood has been hopping on couch cushions for two decades, a practice whose rules are singularly simple. They figured they had time before the parents arrived home to clean up, and proceeded to plop designer sofa pillows across the Italian tile floor. Everyone was happily hopping when the door opened and the mother walked in. Her face suggested that she had never entertained such shenanigans before. 

 

Still the whole experience of babysitting does ready them for their own brood one day. While they may not have been the quintessential sitters in the eyes of one well mannered mother, they gained experience. 

 

There is a place in marriage for simulation. Being kind to each other when the feelings have flown, can give you the necessary practice for getting off the ground. If you believe in eternal marriage, as I do, clocking hundreds of hours on earth can do a lot to lift you into the sky.