Watching our kids compete in their first swim meet was one of those parenting moments that caught me off guard emotionally. For so many years, I’ve done everything I can to make sure they feel safe, confident, prepared, and protected. But this time, I had to stand on the sidelines and let them experience the nerves, competition, wins, and disappointments for themselves. As their dad, I wanted to protect them from losing or feeling discouraged. But I realized I can’t swim the race for them, and I shouldn’t always try to. My job isn’t to make sure they never face hard feelings. It’s to give them the confidence and tools to work through those feelings when they come. So we cheered them on and watched them go for it. They won some races and didn’t win others, but they finished proud of themselves, and that was my favorite part. Seeing where they started at @goldfishswimschool and now watching them compete on Swim Force was such a full-circle moment. I thought I was simply watching thei...