Steve Wiesner@SteveWiesnerSMB
If I was a young dad again, there are five things I’d do differently.
1️⃣ I’d stay away from travel sports. Not going to say it was a waste of time and money (it wasn’t), but it cost too much time and money. The opportunity cost was big. Lots of ways we could have been spending our time away from hot, dusty fields.
2️⃣ We should have travelled more often. We had some amazing trips, but we should have taken more of them. And it didn’t require traveling to the other side of the world. Lots of amazing places nearby we could have explored. Travel is such an amazing way to share experiences and strengthen bonds.
3️⃣ I stuck with miserable jobs (and startups) for too long. I know this took more of a toll on the kids than I realized at the time. I’m not good at keeping work at the office, and sticking w bad situations for too long seeped into who I was at home. Not in terrible ways, but via negativity that wasn’t good modeling for the boys.
4️⃣ Let them be kids for a while. I think I felt too firmly that the world is a rough place and that they needed to understand that fact. It’s true, fine, but I think I tried, unnecessarily, to teach some of those lessons too early.
5️⃣ Shut up and listen. I’m a talker, and in many ways that has served me well. But with the boys, I think just sitting and listening - really listening - was something I didn’t do often enough. Not everything needs to be teaching them a lesson. Sit, listen, and you’ll be surprised by the lessons they teach you.
Net net, I think I did a pretty solid job, but there’s always big room for improvement.
One’s now graduated college, the other is in the thick of it, and they’re both smart, kind, strong and decent men. I’m truly blessed. 🙏
For those of you on the young Dad path now, hope some of these things land.
