How many ways are there to be a great parent

I had some time in church today to walk around and I happened upon a display with lots of great information about parenting. You know the displays - trifolds containing information about like "10 Ways to be a Great Parent" or "Stress and Parenting" or "Ten Tips on How to Talk to Your Child". I was in one of those moods to think and learn, so I grabbed several of the trifolds and walked over to a table to go through them. So here I am, an author of a book on parenting, reading through these list going "Yep, that is a good one" . . . "Boy, I needed that advice at 9am this morning" . . . "How could I forget that one". There were even a couple of times that I looked at an item and realized I had said the exact same thing in my book.

Two things hit me from those moments of reading. The first being that I need as much advice as the next dad. I think about being a dad often, but it is one of those things that gets more challenging, not less. Surprised? Well, don't be. Weekly for sure, but probably daily, I realize that maybe I could have handled some situation better.

The second realization - I could read these lists every day and probably end up doing nothing differently. For me, they help expose my flaws or ignorance, but they don't stick to my bones. What I need to do - - is to bring them to my next lunch with a friend and ask him to spend 10 minutes talking about them to see what thoughts we have - and then ask ourselves the question "So what I am going to do different tomorrow?" And then check in on each other to make sure we are working at it. Kind of simple - but my conviction that we need friends more than lists is pretty strong. Now if we can have a friend and a list - - then things can really start moving. :)

One thing to leave you with - in the next week ask a few people you work with "What is the best piece of advice they ever received about parenting, and what made it so great?" I will take a good conversation over a good list any day.