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This is one of the most commented Facebook posts we’ve ever had
Parents: When were you the most proud of one of your kids?
I’m not looking for athletic accomplishments. More like when they gave you a glimpse of the man or woman you want them to become.
Posted by The Mike Slater Show on Friday, January 26, 2018
The answers are inspiring. Please go and read them and post your own!
I can’t even pick the best to post here, but…how about this from Kimberly:
I have two sons. We lost their father in a tragic accident when they were 15 and 10. Shortly after the accident, I passed by my oldest son’s room around bedtime and his younger brother had climbed into bed with him and was crying. My older son was just holding him, consoling him, very much like a parent would a heartbroken child. It was the most touching moment I’ve witnessed as a parent.
I ask this question because I want a vision for the young man I want Jack to become. I want him to do these awesome things parents wrote about. And to make that happen, I need to be intentional.
The Mission Statement of the Christian Parenting podcast is, “We believe in purposeful parenting. We think of the type of adults we want our kids to become and work backwards.”
Your answer to this question gives me a lot of inspiration to be purposeful.
And every answer a parent gave is a story about a kid living out a meaningful VIRTUE. We need to celebrate more success stories!
ps, Someone asked me why I excluded athletic accomplishments. They said that sports teach kids life lessons.
Obviously.
I was an athlete. It taught me discipline and perseverance and humility. But I feel like our society places too much of an importance on athletics. Athletics also becomes a kids IDENTITY.
Being a swimmer was my identity growing up. When that part of my life ended, I didn’t know who I was.
There are many former pro-athletes who suffer from depression. It’s rooted in losing their identity:
“I wanted to leave winning a Super Bowl, rushing for 2,000 yards, then having a press conference and crying at the podium,” says Eddie George, a running back who spent eight seasons with the Oilers/Titans franchise before retiring in 2005 after one year with the Cowboys. “I wanted to have that moment, you know? But that didn’t happen. I’m sitting at my kitchen table with my cell phone, just waiting for my agent to call for an opportunity with a team. And that’s when I realized it was over.
“I had saved my money. I had done well. I had businesses that I had already started. But there was that void, a huge void, of: ‘Man, what am I going to do tomorrow morning when I wake up?’ It was pretty much, ‘Who am I? I’m no longer an athlete.'”
Lewis Howes’ The Masks of Masculinity has a great chapter about men who wear the “Athlete Mask”.
Anyway, the point is, I wanted to highlight other aspects of kids’ lives, beyond the glory of the field.