Dude you need to get out more. I mean yeah it's cool to get excited about being involved in growing a plant but I don't think I've ever grabbed the fam and made them share in the ooooing and ahhhhing. You have kids so you know what being a real parent feels like, not sure how you can compare watching a seedling grow to that. If I got fired up every time a new leaf popped I would be spending half my time jumping up and down and wouldn't get anything else done. Your 12 year old is going to discover there are many things a heck of a lot more exciting than watching a plant grow real soon. As for you I would suggest you find some new hobbies to fulfill your life. Can you imagine the amount of sheer terror and fun you would have if you tried collecting stamps? Wow!
Ah heck. OK I'll admit my hand is up too. I thought if I wrote that gibberish I could start to believe it, that I wouldn't be such a pepper geek myself. I mean I break out the micro caliper every freaking day to see how much the leaves have grown! I have graphs of growth in height, I use a very fine head lice comb to smooth out the hair on roots! You only check on them two to three times a day? Geez man I spend hours in their room every day! I go without sleep if I see mold! I've got names for all of them for God's sake! You think you're proud? You don't hold a candle to me!!! AAUUUGGGHHHH!!!
Sorry about this, I woke up feeling like being an idiot today. It's good to be excited about growing peppers and sharing it with the family. That's a good reason for doing it. Best of luck to you man.