The first 5 minutes!
What you say in the first 5 minutes can set the tone for the next few hours that follow. Effective public speakers know that they must grab their audience in the first 5 minutes or risk the loss of their attention and the opportunity to impact them. The same principle, coaches, applies to your family! The first 5 minutes when you walk in the door after practice or a game and greet your wife and family can influence your interaction for the rest of the evening. Likewise, the first 5 minutes of the morning can determine what kind of day your kids will have at school. For example, a snarl or complaint on your part as the kids gather for breakfast can sour their attitude for hours.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way in your home! When you’ve been apart from your loved ones, you can do an “attitude check” and reset your mood before you walk in the door. It’s ok to share your concerns; but, as a general rule, you should leave football-related problems at school. Or… at least wait until later when you and your wife can sit down alone after the kids go to bed to share with her. My sweet wife of 42 years doesn’t know a lot about football (though she’s been a coach’s wife for all of those 42 years). She doesn’t even like football all that much! But, she knows me and she knows people… plus she knows Jesus! She is the one I go to with problems (at the proper time!) to get her take on the situation. Holy Spirit has graced her with the Gift of wisdom. I always run things by her… again, at the proper time!
Here’s where the rubber hits the road! Question: Does your family look forward to you coming home each night? If not, why not? I didn’t find out until our kids were grown and gone from the house that my family would sit up until I got home from a game. If we’d won that night, they were there to greet me with hugs and smiles. But… and again, I was too upset to even notice!, when we’d lost— my wife would get the kids in bed and tell them, “if you hear Dad come in, pretend to be asleep if you’re still up!” I’d walk in after a loss and the house was silent as a tomb!!!
A little sensitivity on your part can go a long way and… bring you a lot of benefits!
The Bible says in Proverbs that, “the tongue can bring life or death.” (Proverbs 18:21). Leave your bad mood, anger and worries at the front door. Make sure that your family runs TO you when you walk in the house… not away!!!
