Once, I had a co-worker who said that our greatest mission as a parent is to raise our children to be good humans, and the best way to do that, she said, was to give them cool experiences. This was before I was a mother myself, but something I continue to think about with my kids.  

My husband and I try really hard to give our kids well-rounded experiences. We let them sign up for piano, soccer, dance, art classes—whatever they want. We give them options to try, and if they don’t like it, we never have to go back. If they love something, though, we let them decide how much of their lives they want to immerse themselves in. We also let them find summer camps, and they get to decide which ones they want to go to.  

My husband and I aren’t very religious, but we take our kids to church so they are exposed to that community and that part of life. It’s up to them if they want to continue. We also take them to political events and community activities, and we also try to do one volunteering activity a month.  

We also take our kids on as many trips as we can afford. Whether we stay in our city and explore or take a trip abroad, we want them to know the best way to learn about others is to travel.