As a father of four, in our early days, I really wanted and expected our daughter and three sons to pursue a sporting path in life. Even more so, I wanted the boys at least to take up Australian Rules Football. After realizing a thing or two over the years, here's where our kids are currently tracking.
Our daughter who is the eldest child, played basketball competitively when she was in high school for one season. Aside from involving in mandatory physical education classes and sporting activities at school, she has shied away from any competitive sports. However she has been excelling in two undergraduate courses in fashion technology and industrial design.
The eldest of our boys, took up the game I loved, winning many trophies and awards. An Aussie Rules football career was on the cards. Then unexpectedly, he decided to spend the next two years traveling the world. He may or may not come back to playing footy. This year, he began a sports science degree.
The next son lagged behind the others in terms of motor coordination skills. However his academic achievement in Year 12 (99.95%) blitzed his siblings. He was good at cross country running and completed an overnight 96 kilometer hike with his friends from school. His underlying passion though lies in veterinary science.
The third son took up soccer early on and dabbled in many sports. This year he made the Under 19 Queensland State Soccer Squad as a sixteen year old.
One turning point in my life occurred when I realized, that as a parent, I should not pressure my children to be who I want them to be.
Think about it. Part of our task as a parent is to tune into our child and assist them to not only do well at school, but to dream and make daily action steps to realize that dream.
In your parent teenager relationship, if you ever think that your teenager is ordinary or even below average, spare a thought for the pitiable comments made about some of the elite achievers in history.
Churchill was poor at English and bottom of the class. Seventy years later he won the Noble Prize for literature. Beethoven's teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Walt Disney was fired by an editor for his lack of ideas. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. Teachers of Thomas Edison said that he was too stupid to learn. Einstein did not speak until he was four and didn't read until he was seven.
Even so, our children may not be inclined to excel in any way at all. They may choose instead to fill their life with a range of activities. That's all okay too.
For the record, our potential as human beings is vast and lies within. If we choose to, we can tap into it and make our lives and those around us a blessing.
As parents, should we decide to unearth our potential, we automatically educate our children to do likewise. Isn't this part of our parental role? Helping our kids to be, do and have?
Our daughter who is the eldest child, played basketball competitively when she was in high school for one season. Aside from involving in mandatory physical education classes and sporting activities at school, she has shied away from any competitive sports. However she has been excelling in two undergraduate courses in fashion technology and industrial design.
The eldest of our boys, took up the game I loved, winning many trophies and awards. An Aussie Rules football career was on the cards. Then unexpectedly, he decided to spend the next two years traveling the world. He may or may not come back to playing footy. This year, he began a sports science degree.
The next son lagged behind the others in terms of motor coordination skills. However his academic achievement in Year 12 (99.95%) blitzed his siblings. He was good at cross country running and completed an overnight 96 kilometer hike with his friends from school. His underlying passion though lies in veterinary science.
The third son took up soccer early on and dabbled in many sports. This year he made the Under 19 Queensland State Soccer Squad as a sixteen year old.
One turning point in my life occurred when I realized, that as a parent, I should not pressure my children to be who I want them to be.
Think about it. Part of our task as a parent is to tune into our child and assist them to not only do well at school, but to dream and make daily action steps to realize that dream.
In your parent teenager relationship, if you ever think that your teenager is ordinary or even below average, spare a thought for the pitiable comments made about some of the elite achievers in history.
Churchill was poor at English and bottom of the class. Seventy years later he won the Noble Prize for literature. Beethoven's teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Walt Disney was fired by an editor for his lack of ideas. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. Teachers of Thomas Edison said that he was too stupid to learn. Einstein did not speak until he was four and didn't read until he was seven.
Even so, our children may not be inclined to excel in any way at all. They may choose instead to fill their life with a range of activities. That's all okay too.
For the record, our potential as human beings is vast and lies within. If we choose to, we can tap into it and make our lives and those around us a blessing.
As parents, should we decide to unearth our potential, we automatically educate our children to do likewise. Isn't this part of our parental role? Helping our kids to be, do and have?
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