I watch my boys with wide eyes. The way they dance, sing, imagine, draw, play, I truly believe they can do amazing things as they get older. To me, they are brilliant and I can’t imagine that they will ever stop being so. My question is, how do I ingrain that in them and leverage all that wonder? Did my parents think the same about me? Do you think the same about your children? At what point do they stop believing this is true? At what point do they see too many obstacles before them and give up on their dreams? Isn’t it our responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen? Or do we just arm them as best as possible and then release them to find things out on their own?
As you can see, I am doing a lot of reflection. I am typing this and the questions I raise bring me back to when I was a child and I was excelling in gymnastics. I was 11, already teaching the toddler class and yet I was too scared to compete. My parents gave me an ultimatum- compete or quit. I chose the latter and think about that decision all the time. Could I make such a big decision at 11? Should my parents have pushed me harder? It was like that with piano, singing, acting… all things I loved. As soon as it got challenging or I got rejected, I quit. I can see my parents not wanting to force me into something, but is there a middle ground where you coax and massage your child into making it through the rough patches? I wonder if great leaders parent’s pushed them through the rough patches or allowed their children to explore, and fail, at a lot of things without ever pushing once. (I am sure there are many books about this, feel free to recommend.)
In the meantime, I will love, encourage, expose and even push a little to make sure my boys get the most out of their endless potential.
