Believer in Jesus Christ. Lucky wife. Blessed mother. In-love-with-the-grandchildren Boo. Unworthy of my blessings but eternally grateful for all of them!
Hard coaching without relationship produces resentment. Relationship without hard coaching produces entitlement. The sweet spot is a player who knows you love them and knows you will not lower the bar for them.
When so many said we did stand a chance, our commitment to “til the end of time” stood strong. That’s because vows matter within the covenant of marriage.
Here’s to walking into the next quarter of a century with your hand holding mine! @Coach_Wyant
Take. The. Freaking. Screens. From. Our. Kids.
As a 30-year tenured teacher, what I am seeing is atrocious. Take the freaking screens away. Let them be kids. Let them play. Let them fail. Let them learn. Let them become social again minus the screens.
Take. Them. Away.
For generations, kids had three worlds:
1. Home
2. School
3. A third place; the park, the field, the neighborhood, the church gym, the rec center.
That third place is where kids learned: • how to solve problems without an adult
• how to read emotions and faces
• how to handle conflict
• how to lose
• how to make friends
• how to negotiate and compromise
• how to sit with frustration
• how to just be a kid
But today?
Most kids' third place is a screen.
A screen doesn’t teach boundaries.
A screen doesn’t teach emotional regulation.
A screen doesn’t teach cooperation or conflict skills.
A screen doesn’t teach patience or self-control.
So all the social and emotional skills kids used to practice before they walked into school…
they have to learn inside school now.
And that’s why:
behavior feels different
attention feels different
emotions feel bigger
classroom management is tougher.
This isn’t a “kids these days” problem.
It’s a cultural shift.
When the third place disappears, childhood changes.
And schools end up carrying what the community used to teach.
Until kids get their third place back, we’re going to keep seeing the fallout
@Coach_Wyant is my champ & the rock I am leaning on, even hobbling on his crutches. He is unwavering & completely unaware that he is it. I have no backup plan.
My advice to any girl is this… find yourself a husband who knows nothing less than “Let’s go. Our kid needs us.”
The heavens do not whisper design. They shout it. God created both the sun & moon in perfect size, distance & purpose, placing them exactly where they are to be so that life on Earth could thrive. Creation is not an accident. It is the deliberate work of our mighty God.
Wise words
“My name’s Frank. I’m 64, a retired electrician.
Forty-two years I spent running wires through houses, fixing breakers, making sure people had light in their kitchens and heat in their winters. Never once did anyone ask me where I went to college. Mostly, they just wanted to know if I could get the power back on before their ice cream melted.
Last May, I was at my granddaughter Emily’s school career day. You know the drill — doctors, lawyers, a software guy in a slick suit talking about “scaling startups.” I was the only one there with a tool belt and work boots.
When it was my turn, I told the kids, “I don’t have a degree. I’ve never sat in a lecture hall. But I’ve wired schools, hospitals, and your principal’s house. And when the hospital generator failed during a snowstorm in ’98, I was the one in the basement with a flashlight, keeping the lights on for newborn babies upstairs.”
The kids leaned forward. They had questions — real ones. “How do you fix stuff in the dark?” “Do you make a lot of money?” “Do you ever get zapped?” (Yes, once, and it’ll curl your hair.)
When the bell rang, one boy hung back. Small kid, freckles, hoodie too big for him. He mumbled, “My uncle’s a plumber. People laugh at him ’cause he didn’t finish high school. But… he’s the only one in the family who can fix anything.”
I looked that boy in the eye and said, “Kid, your uncle’s a hero. When your toilet overflows at midnight, Harvard ain’t sending anyone. A plumber is.”
Here’s the thing nobody told me when I was young — the world doesn’t run without tradespeople. You can have all the engineers you want, but if nobody builds the house, wires the power, or lays the pipes, those blueprints just sit in a drawer.
We’ve made it sound like trades are what you do if you can’t go to college, instead of a path you choose because you like working with your hands, solving problems, and seeing your work stand solid for decades.
Four years after high school, some kids walk away with diplomas. Others walk away with zero debt, a union card, and a skill they can take anywhere in the world. And guess what? When your furnace dies in January, it’s not the diploma that saves you.
A few weeks ago, that same freckled kid’s mom stopped me at the grocery store. She said, “You probably don’t remember, but you told my son trades are important. He’s shadowing his uncle this summer. First time I’ve seen him excited about anything in years.”
That’s the part we forget — for some kids, knowing their path is respected changes everything. It’s not about “just” fixing wires or pipes. It’s about pride. Purpose. The kind that sticks with you long after the job’s done.
So next time you meet a teenager, don’t just ask, “Where are you going to college?” Ask, “What’s your plan?” And if they say, “I’m learning to weld,” or “I’m starting an apprenticeship,” smile big and say, “That’s fantastic. We’re going to need you.”
Because we will. More than ever. And when the lights go out, you’ll be glad they showed up.”