They’re going to surprise you. They are going to be into things and want to do things that you simply do not understand. Their music taste will be weird. Where they want to go to college or what they want to study will seem like a bad choice. Their friends will puzzle you.
Your kids, as much as they’re like you, will always have some part of them that you just do not get. And guess what? That’s fine. Because that’s not your job. You getting it is not just that important. Or at least, it’s not the important part.
In the Daily Dad book (grab or gift a copy here), we tell a beautiful story about the writer Michael Chabon and his son, Abe, who became obsessed with fashion and style. In a fuller piece in GQ, Chabon talks about watching his son’s excitement at a fashion show he had pulled some strings for them to attend. He didn’t get what his son loved about all of it, but, he writes, “in time I came to understand the nature of my job as the father of this sartorial wild child: I didn’t needto fathom Abe or his stylistic impulses; I needed only to let him go where they took him and, for as long as he needed me, to follow along behind.”
THAT is your job. You don’t need to understand it. You don’t need to like it. You don’t even need to enjoy it. You do need to support them. You need to encourage them. You need to be behind them as they discover who they are.
P.S. Help your children find their people, we say in the June 17 entry in the Daily Dad, like Michael Chabon helped his son find the fashion world. In fact, the whole month of June is full of practical advice and wisdom about helping your children become who they are, especially when they happen to be a little different from you. Grab a copy and learn how you can provide the structure and support to help your kids discover who they are today!
