The Role of a Parent

Our oldest son, Micah has his first basketball game of his senior year tonight. I (Justin) made the huge mistake of going down memory lane,  flipping through old pictures of he, Trish and myself growing up together.

I cried like a baby.

They weren’t tears of sadness, but tears of joy and gratitude. It has been such an honor to partner with my best friend to raise an amazing young man.

As I flipped through pictures, I realized how my role as a parent has changed over the years. There are probably more evolutions of our role as parents, but in my overly emotional, blood-shot eye state here are four that were obvious to me.

1. Dreamer:

When you first become a parent, you have dreams for your kids. You dream about them walking and talking and what they are going to be when they grow up. You dream about their personality and their interests and hobbies. Before your child ever has dreams of their own, you have dreams for them. You dream about the person they will become, the spouse they will marry, the impact they will make.

2. Nurturer

Life is tough. Disappointment comes and failure happens. Sometimes  our kids struggle with school or they get cut from a team or they have  their heartbroken. They need us to nurture them. They need us to care  for them and have their back.

They need to know that we love them  unconditionally.

 3. Coach

As our kids grow, they need to be coached. They need us to teach them and give them skills and knowledge about life and friends and the opposite sex. They have God-given potential that is released and realized as we coach them to pursue their dreams.

  4. Cheerleader

The season I’m in right now is a new one. Micah doesn’t need me to dream for him. He is beyond his desire to have us nurture him. He has been coachable and has begun to realize his potential. Now I’m his cheerleader. My impact isn’t as much in my instruction as it is in my friendship. He needs me in his corner, cheering for him as he moves into adulthood.

I wish someone would have told me how fast the time with our kids would go. Actually, ever person over 40 years old told me, “Enjoy every minute with your boys, it goes by so fast.” When you aren’t sleeping through the night and they are writing with markers on the walls, time doesn’t seem so fast.

But today, as our oldest son has his final first game of high school, I want to cherish every minute, to cheer like crazy and savor this final season.

What role would you add to the list?