I Believe In You

Last night we sat around the dinner table as a family. It was Monday, December 22nd, just after 5pm. The sun was setting, and it was nearly 50 degrees outside. The view of the sun setting out the back windows of the house was spectacular, as usual. The kids had already eaten, so naturally I didn't think they would join us at the table. Recently, I bought conversation cards for dinnertime and had the three new card sets sitting on the table. Conversation cards aren't a new concept at our house. But the newness of the cards had my 4-year-old interested. As Abbey and I sat down, I asked if Beau and Blaire wanted to come sit at the dinner table and choose some cards. Beau excitedly answered yes and ran over and jumped in the chair next to me. He's always loved sitting next to Dad at the table, as it makes him feel cool. Blaire, following the example of her older brother, yelled, "Yes!" with the same excitement and climbed up on the bench next to Abbey. Blaire is 2 years old and just starting to form sentences, so her replies always make us laugh.

While Abbey and I ate, we let Beau pull cards from the deck. It's almost like a game for him to get to pull a card. He'll pull it and then hand it to me to read aloud. After reading the question, Beau answers the question first. It's a great way to get the kids thinking and talking (something Beau never struggles with). We then go around the table answering the question.

One of the questions we had during dinner last night was, "What is your favorite thing about yourself?" Sometimes, these kid-friendly questions even make adults think hard. My answer to this question was my optimism for life. Which was then followed by, "What's optimism, Dad?" And I began to explain what it means to be positive vs. negative. I explained how negative people act and talk vs. how positive people act and talk. I tried my best to explain what it meant to be optimistic.

As I thought about this later on, I tied this thought to our family value of "dream big". I believe this value is rooted in my ability to be a believer and dreamer and to want to pass this along to my kids.

One of the best things I will ever do for my kids as their dad is to believe in them. I want my kids to feel like they're special. Because they are. I want to care about the little details of their lives. I want them to genuinely believe that they will be great. Or at the very least, know that I think they will be great and that I believe in them. And to never doubt them.

That's one of my goals. And I'll spend most of my life trying to do it.