Recently signed up for the Daily Dad which is a Ryan Holiday creation that offers daily parenting advice… Because it is an offshoot of another Holiday creation, The Daily Stoic, there is no doubt in my mind the wisdom shared would be right in line with what we champion here in The Daily Hustle. 👊
The first Daily Dad e mail I received was: “Don’t be that guy, or that guy.”
Holiday then went on to describe two types of parents…
- A Helicopter Parent – “They refuse to let their kid out of their site. They follow them on the playground so they never fall down. They don’t let them ride their bike to a friend’s house so they never get lost. They make all their kids decisions for them. They check in constantly with their teachers to make sure everything is going according to plan. Their plan.”
- A Snowplow Parent – “They drive out in front of their kid, clearing the road of every conceivable impediment and obstacle between adolescence and… retirement? Their kid’s, not theirs.”
Here’s the deal. We all believe that we are the perfect parents, and of course, we would NEVER fall into the helicopter or snowplow category…
Yet, the matter of fact is that just about ALL of us have at one time or another. Being a parent, it’s very natural to want to hover over our kids and do everything we can to protect them from the potential harms of the world… It is also normal for parents to want to clear the road for their child…
“Why would we possibly want our children to have to endure any unnecessary dangerous obstacles along the road???”
Hey!!!! It’s Stevie Super Soft!!!
It’s been awhile, good to hear your voice…
I know that this will be tough for you to comprehend Stevie but the reason we don’t hover over our kids or provide a yellow brick path of least resistance is because as much as this pains me to tell you, this isn’t f*cking Pleasantville… The beautiful real world that we live in has the ability to knock our asses down then step on our throats at any moment my dude.
In order for our kids to learn the invaluable Human Crash Test Dummy LIFE Lessons we have to offer, it is imperative we teach them how to EAT SHIT… It’s only at this point that they will be able to figure out how to properly fall, and even more importantly, how to get their asses back up.
Whenever we are in doubt of whether or not we are being the helicopter or the snowplow, let’s slap ourselves the face and simply remind ourselves of this beautiful old American proverb:
“Prepare the child for the road, NOT the road for the child.”
-EB