"Squeeze Harder!"

Donna and I often joke about our different parenting styles. Hers is a model of tough love, punctuated with passionate displays of playful affection with both of our children. My approach is more business-like, punctuated by quiet tender moments with both of our children. I'm more easily tagged as the pushover, while she's affectionately known as the drill sergeant.

Recently, Hunter was having a hard time getting toothpaste out of the tube. The bathroom is right beside my office and Donna and I were talking in there when Hunter yelled out, "Mom, I can't get the toothpaste out of the tube!" Donna's immediate response was, "Squeeze harder!"

Hunter replied, "Great advice, Mom. Squeeze harder.  . . I never would have thought of that." His response was laced with sarcasm, which both Donna and myself are pretty darn adept at using, and Hunter has honed to an art as he races into pre-teen adolescence.

Donna just wants Hunter to Squeeze Harder!

Donna and I laughed, but there is an important lesson in that bit of parenting advice. Hunter and Skye both have to figure out how to get the toothpaste out of the tube of life, too. We won't always be here to help them figure out the challenges they confront. They need to figure out how to either get a new tube of toothpaste or find a creative way to get what's left out of the old one.


I wish all of their challenges will be as simple as being smart enough to get the toothpaste of the tube. Unfortunately, that toothpaste tube will morph into getting into college and then taking what they've learned in college and finding a job.

As I watch our global economy, the job prospects for our children will change dramatically. I wouldn't be surprised at all if our children will be doing something once only shown on Star Trek episodes. I hope they have the skills to compete. It feels like our country has been on a fast track of outsourcing and we really need to find ways to invest in our own people again.

All of those challenges still come back to figuring out how to "squeeze harder." We can't settle for mediocrity, which can creep into all aspects of our life like a cancer, undermining our collective ambition and persistence. I pray that Hunter and Skye find ways to squeeze harder and realize from their efforts can come a wonderful life they built all by themselves.