The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Being a parent is one of the best jobs on the planet, but it’s not easy.

However, consistency and follow-through make a tough job a little less so, and your kids will learn to respect you for it. I talked about this in my last post.

We used to have a village to help, but now, not so much. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles are in different time zones.

It’s up to us to create the modern village, but we can’t offload everything.

The big mistake I see parents make over and over is thinking they can outsource it all.

When I coached Little League, I had a power couple (she was a doctor and he was an investment banker) who’d always show up late to games.

They’d have their nanny drop their son off, show up halfway through the game, and start complaining to me because their kid was in the outfield.

*Note: We were required to rotate the kids in all positions. If they’d shown up in the first inning, they would have seen James at shortstop.

One time, they didn’t show up at all, and I ended up bringing James home with my son. We fed him dinner until his parents showed up a few hours later.

Parents like this wake up one day to find out their kids don’t respect or listen to them when they’re teenagers because they’re more roommates than parents.

And they wonder how this happened.

We can get help, and I’m all for that —in fact, I advocate for it; however, we still have to parent and be present for our kids if we want happy adults in the future.

Parenting is the most demanding job you’ll have, but it’s also the most rewarding if you are present and lead with love.