There are two things Dwyane Wade knows a lot about: basketball and parenting.
The former NBA champ has four kids in total, ranging from age 20 to 4, so he has experienced just about every parenting moment you can think of.
At the red carpet for the 2022 People Choice’s Awards, the 40-year-old athlete talked to Laverne Cox about navigating parenthood.
We all know that being a parent is hard. I mean being a human in this world is hard. That’s just starting as just that—that’s not even putting Black complexion to it. To be a parent, I think we all have our own ways. It’s not just one way. I know in the community that we come from, the Black community, especially as a Black man growing up, a lot of things was perceived as weak for us, and I understood it.
Wade went on to talk about how he believes most people need to let go of the things they were taught early on in life.
I think a lot of people have to let a lot of the things that we were taught and we learned at an early age—kind of let it go and then allow life to show you, allow life to help you grow. Allow your experiences to let you see different. And sit back and enjoy the show, man.
Not bad advice. I think as people age, they start to develop this, “back in my day” mentality, not realizing the world they’re currently in is so much different than the one they were raised in. Things that worked back then are probably not as effective now, and for good reason.
I think Wade has the right idea.
