As parents, it is our job to teach our kids right from wrong. We look at the hierarchy of it all..
I'll teach..You listen.
And that works great in the beginning, as we navigate the importance of manners, respect, and how to do basic things so they become functioning adults.
And then the teen years come, and they all of a sudden know it all, and the relationship becomes strained because you're still trying to tell them what to do because that's all you know..and you lose them until about 30 because you're out of touch and so are your antiquated teachings..
My daughter was begging me to go skiing with her this weekend. It's a new passion of hers, and she wanted ME to go with her.
I haven't been skiing since 1994 when I was trying to impress a lady friend and failed..And so my equipment has been tucked away at my mom's house along with my flowbee.
I dug them out..Not the flowbee..That ship has sailed.
My daughter who has been skiing a total of 5 times never left my side.
"Here's how you get on the ski-lift, here's how you stop, here's how you turn..Here's how you fall."
We spent multiple hours together. I fell once, and she held out her hand, attempting to help me stand up on the side of a steep mountain in the French Alps during an avalanche..Or at least that's how it felt..
I was taken back by the role reversal of it all..And then quickly reminded about what we all need to do as parents..
We need to listen.
Parenting is not about controlling our kids.
Parenting is not about our failures and how they can carry out our long lost goals.
Parenting is not about pretending we have all the answers. It's about being vulnerable and changing with your child.
I have struggled to bond with my 13 year old daughter, at times. TikTok is what a grandfather clock does, and my name is not Tom Holland.
But I learned from her this weekend, and I am better for it...And so is she...And we had meaningful conversation, because it was about her passions, not mine.
All relationships change. Do you?
All my best as you figure out life and the relationships in it
XOXO Glenn


