There’s Really Only One Thing Your Child Needs To Know
The Beatles had it right: All you need is love
My daughter is in college, and she told me something recently that really jarred me. “My friend and I were talking the other day,” she said, “and we realized we’re two of the few girls we know who have a good relationship with their fathers.”
It was one of those weird life moments where I felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy that I was one of those two dads. Sad that so many of her friends have no emotional connection with their fathers.
No doubt about it — parenting is hard. And the hardest part of all is that you have to put your child’s needs above your own needs. That doesn’t mean allowing your kids to rule the roost, or that you don’t make time for yourself. Our kids need to see that we have a life and our life is important, too. They need to see the world doesn’t revolve around them.
But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about putting your own selfish needs and wants behind the very deep, very real needs of your children. Your kids need to know, on a gut level, that the most important job in your life is being their parent and that they can trust you. When they are young and you show them, bit by bit over time, that they can’t trust you, the seeds of doubt are sown. By the…
