The other night, G and I were working in the flower garden when we heard a commotion coming from the duck pen.

Fearing the worst, G sprinted down to them, and I followed as quickly as I could.

As soon as he had the pen in sight, he yelled, “they’re gone.”

Then a moment later, he skidded to a stop, and started slowly backing away. “MOM, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS,” he whispered as loudly as he could.

The ducks weren’t gone, they were holed up in their coop. A baby skunk was running wild inside their enclosure. My immediate response was panic, because where there is a baby, there is likely a mama. But I was quickly distracted by the pure and utter wonder on G’s face, as he stood, utterly entranced by the little ball of fluff romping around the ducks’ food bowl.

E got her lifeguard certification earlier this spring, and she has gotten her first few paychecks. She has been responsible with them, putting them in the bank and opening a savings account.

She recently went on a shopping trip with me, and I joked about who would be footing the bill. She was fully prepared to pay for her items, even though they fell under the “needs” category, rather than “wants,” so I fully intended to pay for them.

What I saw on her face, though, was pride. She was proud that she had earned enough to pay her own way. What surprised me even more was that, as we continued shopping, she was careful to compare prices, putting back a few things that she regularly purchased, in favor of less expensive items, even though she knew I’d be paying for things.

She made smart choices, and as we drove home, I complimented her on being smarter about how she was spending. “It’s fun,” she said. “It’s fun earning it, and it’s fun taking care of it.”

I’d never thought of budgeting as “taking care of” my money, but that’s how I’ll be thinking about it from now on.

A has another internship this summer.

After his summer in Harrisburg, working for the State Department, switching to working for a nonprofit organization has been a change of pace, and a change of expectations.

At first, he was a little disappointed by the caliber of work that they’d given him to do, but after a week attending an annual conference, he realized that all the small tasks he’s been working on were integral to all the moving parts coming together for the success of the event.

At the end of the conference, he had some face time with his boss, whom he’d only seen via zoom meeting previously. She complimented him on his willingness to do all the small things, acknowledging that they were probably a little bit boring for him. We chatted about it when he arrived home, tired after a long week.

“I think that might be my biggest takeaway from this job,” he said. “Sometimes you have to just dig in and do the grunt work, and no matter how small the job is, there is dignity in it, and it needs to get done.”

I find it interesting to watch my kids have these “lightbulb” moments, when they come to an important realization on their own. Well, in G’s case, it was more a moment of absolute awe, in a world that he always appreciates, but is in it so much, he sometimes thinks wonder is the norm.

At any rate, these are lessons that will be critical to them as they continue into adulthood, and I hope that they don’t forget them any time soon.

You always hope you’re raising good kids who are prepared for the future, but you can’t teach them everything. And, even when you teach them a concept, until they have real world experiences test those concepts, they may not fully grasp them.

Open to new experiences, with a small dose of caution, taking care of your, and other’s finances, and rolling up your sleeves and doing the job that needs to be done, not necessarily what you want to do. Watching my kids learn these lessons is a good way for me to revisit them and relearn them as well.

Watching your kids turn into decent humans may take years, but it’s worth it. Watching your new adults get wildly giddy because baby skunks showed up, well that’s just the icing on the cake.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears on Saturdays in the Times News