Friday, August 29, 2008

A Gold Medal Mom


I, along with the rest of the world, am completely taken with Michael Phelps. Not because of the eight gold medals, the billions of dollars in endorsements, or even the muscles...I am taken with him because he loves his mom. And he's not afraid to tell the world that he loves his mom and she returns in kind here.

As a mother of two boys, I treasure that relationship and I think Debbie Phelps has a great philosophy -

But when asked how she resisted the urge to be a stage parent, Debbie said, “I wasn’t a pusher. I just always let the coaches do their jobs. My job was to be Michael’s mom.”

We don't have to hover and control every aspect of our kid's lives. We need to pray for them like crazy and be there for the good times and the bad. It is easy to get out of balance in this area and try to get our child into the limelight or push them beyond what is reasonable. Let's let coaches coach, let God be God, and take our place as moms...praying, loving, supporting, cooking, driving, hugging, tucking in and cheering on.

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