The older my kids get the more my mind turns to the messages that they need to hear from me as their father.
In equal parts, these thoughts have been triggered by the subject selection discussions which have been occurring at my school the last few weeks, the one-on-one coaching sessions with a number of students about their plans in senior school and that my eldest on the verge of starting high school.
At the core, as my kids grow up, the most important things they’ll need to hear, as they enter teenage-hood and begin to identify who they are, what they’re good at and what they’ll stand for, are:
I love you…
You’re good at that…
I’m proud of you…
These three statements tie into these emerging identities.
The first, they need to hear because they are my children and I am their father.
The second, they need to hear because they require affirmation of their strengths. And they need it often to help cancel out the opposite voices that come from within and from others.
The third, hopefully, they’ll deserve to hear because of the person they develop into into. Their character should make me proud.
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