Throw Your Kids to the Wolves

As parents, wanting the best for your kids is human nature. Wanting them to have fewer struggles in life than you did, even if it means you incur more, is also not uncommon. However, as I got off the phone with my wife recently, after discussing future schooling options for our kids, part of me wondered if providing great opportunities is actually detrimental long term. I think back to the movie 300 and the scene where the young Spartan, Leonidas is taken away at the age of seven to claw, scratch, and fight his way to manhood. I don’t want to drop off my kids and have them fight their way to safety, however, I can think back to my childhood and the struggles we encountered. I know for certain I am better today because of how I endured and learned from the situations of my youth.

Today I watched an older CBS Intro to the Army-Navy Football game a social media connection shared and there was a football player’s mom who said, “I’m not going to be selfish. It’s the unselfish thing for your kids, you’ve got to let them go.” I couldn’t help but ask myself the question, “Am I being selfish when I don’t let them struggle?” Parenting is difficult. It’s even more difficult to let your kids fail, however, without falling, how will they learn? Life is hard, how will your children perform when you’re not around? I know what I need to do, but doing it, being unselfish, can be extremely difficult as we all want our kids to succeed both short term and long term.