Parent the child you have, not the one you wish you had.
Kirsten Jones thinks the line is so important, she repeats it within the text of her book.
“Just because she doesn’t have the same passion for the game that you or her siblings might have doesn’t make her 'damaged goods,'" Jones writes in “Raising Empowered Athletes.” “It simply makes her like all the rest of us: struggling to find our places in the world.”
Jones is a former elite Division I athlete. She has been a coach of kids, and she’s a mother of three.
“I feel like I learned all the chapters in the book,” Jones, now a motivational speaker and performance coach, tells USA TODAY Sports. “I've had the kid who was the star, I've had the kid who didn't play. I've flown to tournaments where I sat on the sidelines for five days and she didn't even touch the floor. And it sucks. And the tears in the car ride home for both of you are hard.”
