Consistent.

Sometimes I make life too complicated. As my children get older, I appreciate their simplicity. When they are mad or frustrated, they express it, they don't hold on to it, they let it go.

Somewhere along the way to becoming adults, we lose that. I'm trying to hold on to it for them, and that's challenging in a world that's highly competitive, attention-seeking, where success is determined by things. I fall into that trap too — success and what it's supposed to mean.

But when I look at them, it isn't about the grades or the money. It's the effort, the desire to improve, the ability to learn from your mistakes, the ability to be human and be genuine. I want them to compete, to want to win — but to do it with honor. The biggest battle will always be with yourself. So I fight to keep their joy, and I try to enjoy who they are right now.

I learned not to drag my own inner desires and patterns onto my kids. Let me correct that — I'm still learning. I've caught myself lecturing them a thousand times. It's not about lecturing. It's holding them accountable, mirroring through action, and letting them be them. Which means I have work of my own: listen better, be present, communicate — and ask the same of them.

All of that seems like a lot at times. But I always come back to one word: consistency. Doing the simple things over and over, and being a good human.