OF ADVICE TO OTHER DADS, WHAT WOULD IT BE? BRETT: Find a good partner, because it really takes at least two. You’re going to have days where you fail and you’ve got to learn from your mistakes, just like the kids do. [Also,] allow your kids the freedom to make some mistakes, because they’re going to learn more from that than not being allowed to do certain things. So, find a good partner and learn from your own failures. HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED AND POSITIVE DURING CHALLENGING TIMES? BRETT: I think just being competitive makes you motivated. I look at these challenges and end up saying, How big of a deal is this really? Am I going to remember this a few years from now? Is this going to affect me next year, two years from now, and then? If it’s not, then why am I so anxious or so worried about it, right? I try to keep positive with that. Scripture as well, knowing that I’m not going through anything that somebody else hasn’t gone through already and has come out better. CHILDREN AS THEY GROW UP? BRETT: I hope that they stay in Christ; I hope they would not part from that. I hope they have families, and that they’re successful. I think those are the three main things. I want them to experience family. I want them to experience success in their professional careers, and for them to keep their families in church as well. WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR YOUR
daily. I would say it also taught me that I need some help. You know, I need a good partner in it to parent these kids and not go crazy. HOW HAS BEING A FATHER INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU COACH? BRETT: You can’t coach girls the same as boys, and I don’t know that I would know that if I didn’t have daughters. Girls are very sensitive, and so I try to take that into consideration. They’re also very selfless. I coach boys as well, and boys kind of do their own thing, but girls are better teammates. They’re not so much about individual accomplishments and things like that. They really are more team players. So, having coached both, I stuck with girls’ basketball because of that. FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? BRETT: It’s hard to have a family day to be honest with you. I’ve got my oldest daughter who plays soccer—high school soccer and club soccer—and she plays high school basketball. The middle child does dance three nights a week, and then the youngest plays every sport that he can. So it’s not a whole lot of family days. My wife loves to plan vacations where we can get away and be together. We try not to have a whole lot of distractions with phones and things like that. But on a normal family day, I don’t want to take credit for having these great family days. My wife plans them all out. She expects them to go a certain way, and they usually don’t go quite as expected. We’ve done LSU games together. We used to go hiking a lot, especially during COVID, and things like that. If we can get a dinner together at TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? BRETT: My wife intentionally creates these traditions, whether we like them or not. She’s amazing, and that’s why I said you have to have a good partner. We go and look at Christmas lights, and we all complain about it until we go. [Also,] things with family. We travel every year to visit her family. She grew up military, moving around a lot, so it’s definitely important to her. She organizes it; we just show up, so I’m not going to take any credit for that. IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE PIECE CAN YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL FAMILY DAY night, to me, that’s success. WHAT TRADITIONS ARE MOST IMPORTANT
RAPID FIRE Q&A Favorite local spot for family day… We go eat at a Japanese restaurant... well the girls eat there. The boy doesn’t like the food as much. One word that best describes your family… Busy. Favorite TV show
and movie to watch… Ted Lasso and This is 40 . Favorite food… Any type of barbecue. Hidden talent… Playing the guitar.
BRPARENTS.COM | DECEMBER2024
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