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𝐈'𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬...
Watching your child grow up is one of life's greatest privileges.

Last week my daughter took her first official college tennis visit to Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte. As we walked campus, I found myself reflecting on what Nicole Bell and I tried to prioritize while raising our kids.

1. Follow their passion—not yours.
Tennis brought us to campus, but baking is what fuels her. When kids discover something they genuinely love, they'll often work harder than any parent could ever push them.

2. Remember: the days are long, but the years are short.
I think the years only seem short in hindsight. While you're in them, you rarely realize how quickly childhood is slipping by.

3. Break bread together.
Nicole always stressed family dinners, even when schedules were chaotic. Looking back, it became our daily debrief, our check-in, and the easiest way to know what was really happening in our kids' lives.

4. Don't always fix it.
I still ask myself: Does she need a hug, to be heard, or a hand? Most of the time she wasn't looking for a solution. She simply wanted someone willing to listen.

5. Let your actions teach first.
I stopped drinking more than eleven years ago. Our kids never saw drunk or hungover parents because children tend to imitate what they see long before they follow what they're told.

6. Delay the screens.
Our kids had iPads for long road trips, but not restaurants, short car rides, or difficult moments. They learned how to regulate themselves without a device and it taught them creativity, patience, and communication.

7. Exercise together.
During COVID, we worked out every day as a family. My daughter wasn't exactly thrilled at the time, but routines become habits, and habits shape who we become.

8. Do something hard together.
Run a marathon. Train for a 100-miler. Hike a mountain. Go thirty days without sugar. The challenge itself isn't the point. Hard things create shared memories, and those memories become the stories your family tells for years.

9. Keep faith at the center.
Our faith never removed uncertainty, but it has given us peace in the middle of it. When God is at the center of your relationships, you can focus on what you can control and trust God with the rest.

10. Create traditions.
We have annual Bell Family Awards run by her. We have Tie-Dye Thanksgiving, we also annually run a race together. I also promised each of our kids any experience they wanted as a teenager so they could plan ahead.

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