Maybe you don’t like it. Maybe you think it’s a bad idea. Maybe you’re scared for them. Maybe it challenges your assumptions or your religious beliefs. Maybe you think it’s going to be really hard.
But you know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s your job to support your kids. Just be a fan, we say in The Daily Dad book. Just be a fan.
“It’s all about loving them, no matter who they are, what they decide to do,” the basketball legend Dwayne Wade recently said in an interview. “If you don’t support them, who’s going to support them and love them?”
Some will know what struggles he was referring to with one of his children, some won’t. But either way, how can you possibly disagree with this advice? How could anything make it untrue? Your job is to support your kids. Your job is to love them, no matter what.
We’re their parents, the ones they’re supposed to trust and feel safe with over anyone else. If we don’t give them a safe place to land, who will? Be there for them and love them unconditionally. Show up—ask about their new crystal collection, let them wear that favorite costume to the family party, listen carefully when they share their feelings, answer their questions thoughtfully, listen to their opinions, respect their choices—and just be their number one fan, always.
P.S. We tell these kinds of stories in The Daily Dad (keepsake leatherbound edition available here), because if there is one experience that links us all as humans, it’s parenting. Raising a family has always been a wild, chaotic daily existence—one filled with joy and difficulty, love and labor—that has humbled and inspired every parent.
And like the wisdom inside, the book is designed to stand the test of time. This giftable edition of the book is bound in genuine leather and has a red ribbon to mark that piece of wisdom you want to share with a friend or partner.
