Your kids will experiences tremendous highs and lows in life. They will have huge successes and equally huge failures. It would be great if we knew exactly what those successes and failures would be so we do a better job of preparing them. That is unlikely to happen.
Of course we can guide them and influence them, similar to way Jack Harbaugh did with his two sons. The Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim, followed in their father’s footsteps by coaching football. They did just a tad bit better than he did, by reaching both coaching their respective teams in Super Bowl 47 this year.
Can our kids handle winning as well as losing?
I can only imagine coaching against one another at the pinnacle of their profession and their family being there for both of them. They knew there would be one tremendous high after the game and one tremendous low. How would they handle that? How would our kids and our families handle that? I addressed this and ways to prepare our kids in my latest CoachUp blog post. Below is an excerpt of the post:
John Harbaugh was asked about greeting his brother, Jim, at midfield after the game, and he responded by saying it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Yes, he was happy, yes he just reached the pinnacle of success in his profession, and yes, his brother was there with him while it happened. The phrase, “bitter sweet”, doesn’t quite say enough.
My guess is there was or will be a Harbaugh family celebration after everything has settled down. Both brothers and their families may be present. I am not sure what will be said, or done, during that celebration. Thinking of this led me to ponder this question: Have I prepared my kids to handle life’s biggest wins and losses? Here are four things to help us all prepare our kids.
Click here to read the full post, and to join the conversation taking place on the CoachUp blog.
Question: Today, how do your kids to handle their biggest successes and failures? Please share in the comment section below.