It’s time for kids to go back to school. This time of the year brings mixed emotions for parents as another season of life has passed and kids are moving up the ladder of life.
Although my sons are grown and our nest is empty, I get to watch and listen to friends and family talk about how they prepare and transition. Lately, I’ve heard a number of parents and kids anxious about the next big step of starting junior high, high school or college. (The little ones may be anxious as well but often they just jump in full force without trepidation! 😊 )
I have a few thoughts to share with those of you that are guiding your families through this transition period:
Be open to understanding your child’s natural attraction toward activities they enjoy and love learning about. As parents, we often want something for them and then steer our child down paths which please us or meet our needs and expectations. Often, we mistakenly think our child will and should enjoy everything like us. I go back to the days when I would take my boys fishing. I tried to always stop fishing to eat snacks, throw rocks, or whatever they wanted to do, even though I wanted to cast one more hole in the creek and wanted to share the experience with them. The same idea applied to sports: it’s good for them to pick a sport and enjoy it but readily be able to choose something different if they aren’t engaged or interested. Dr. Greg Canty, a sports medicine physician and fellow dad, and I talked a lot about this in this podcast (and even more so in his video course: Raising a Young Athlete.)
Be open to just listening to them share their day and thoughts. This takes time and requires you to be intentional and focus. You want them to feel like they have a regular, daily connection and the space to share when all is good and, all the more, when life is rough.
Be encouraging, patient and gracious as they make mistakes and may not meet expectations with school, sports, or relationships.
These thoughts, as I’ve shared before, are based upon my own shortcomings as a parent and areas I want to encourage parents to do better than I did at times.
As you move into this new season, find other parents to live life with. They can be partners who will listen, share, mentor, and lift you up. My best friendships are those where we can be real with one another about our shortcomings and struggles as parents. It’s amazing what you can learn from others and the power of sharing our struggles.
Let us know how we can serve and assist you on the journey of raising your precious children!
Josh Honaker, MD, MBA, FAAP
Founder and CEO
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