This small moment, for me just days after the election, hopefully left a mark on my girls. You never know what does leave a mark, all you can do is model the type of leadership you expect, and give them the tools and opportunities to practice on their own.

If I had to replay that conversation back again, it might go something like this…thank you very much for your compliments of my daughter. For future reference, you should probably ask permission first from her if you’d like to touch her hair, out of respect for her personal space. It’s a rough draft. Unfortunately I’m sure Riley, Olivia, London, and myself will all have plenty of practice perfecting our responses over the years.

It’s crucial that we have people like this in our lives, other dads who know our hopes and dreams who can serve as companions on a similar journey. For my circle of dads, the ties run deep: our wives are besties, our families vacation together, our kids are god-siblings…you get the picture.

For parents out there wondering if there’s hope in this world, look no farther than our children and their daily growth. Even in the little things, you’ll glimpse aspects of their talents, talents that will one day change the world for the better. Thank God for these little reminders of what’s possible.

We must prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child. The further out I can see, the better the decision I will make to help the next generation win. Don’t think control, think connect. Don’t think rules, think equations. Don’t think lecture, think lab.

The longer we remain silent and on the sidelines, assuming our comfortable lives will save us, the more we ensure our own demise. How do we as parents help our kids #staywoke to the realities of the world around us?

That’s what happens when you step out of your comfort zone, you encounter new realities that force you to make a choice: embrace what’s in front of you or shrink back and regret the missed opportunity for growth.

Raising kids can be hard. It’s better to have an end goal in mind and friends with whom to share the journey. #daddyduty

Kids seem to rise to your level of expectation about them, so I’m expecting big things from this one.