Take the Stairs Up
🌟Weekly Inspiration🌟
My husband is a big sports fan and he convinces me to listen to a podcast interview with Dabo Sweeney, National Championship Coach for Clemson football. I was skeptical if I would love this...and I did. So many life lessons and parenting inspiration in this interview ⭐. A key theme was the importance of hard work, grit, and humility. He describes a situation where he was approached by a couple of young guys at the elevator bank who wanted to know the secrets to his success—and he essentially said, "I'm going to take the elevator up but you should take the steps up until you arrive." One of his messages is to work hard, consider nothing beneath you, have integrity in all that one does, and put in the time walking up the stairs until you have really paid your dues.
It's a powerful message and one that I was fortunate to receive growing up. In my work with youth in the South Bay and raining children in our community, I am struck by how many children do not seem to receive this message. I often sit with high school and college kids that have never had a part-time job or done a load of laundry. For many kids in our community, the red carpet seems to be rolled out in front of them constantly (orchestrating to get on the right teams, in the right classes, to get the good grades, etc). Academics and athletics are revered to such an extent that kids are not expected to do chores, get a part-time job, or volunteer. I also value academics/sports/music and love to see children thrive in these ways...but not at the expense of learning no other life skills or good old-fashioned grunt work. There is tremendous value in the restaurant job, retail job, camp counselor position, summer internship, and unpaid volunteerism. Many times, I sit with youth that feels these types of job experiences or hard work are beneath them.
Ask yourself:
What were the expectations for me growing up in terms of hard work, grit, and humility?
How did I feel about what was expected of me? Have I wanted to do the same with my children or do it differently with them?
Are my kids entitled?
How do I feel about them taking the stairs?
Do I intentionally speak to them about grunt work and paying their dues?
Are there any shifts that I would like to make?