Dad asks parents to focus on kids' childhood than worrying about their future: 'Give them a good past'

Parents are constantly preparing for their kids' future, whether by ensuring they have enough college funds or getting them admitted into the best schools. They have to do a lot to secure a bright future for their children. However, an artist and author, Abraham Piper thinks differently and gives reasons why parents should not be worried about giving kids a good future. Piper—who goes by @morebrahampiper on TikTok—says in a viral TikTok video, "What if the goal of parenting isn't to give your kids a good future, it's impossible anyway."

"The future is uncertain. So, is it the best use of our parental energy, our love to continue trying to achieve the impossible? Isn't there something instead where success could happen right now instead of 30 years down the road, if at all? Imagine if there's a goal for parents that we could achieve every day and know it," asks the author.

"How about this, don't worry about giving your kids a bright future. Give them a good past," emphasizes Piper. "A huge part of who we feel as individuals are our memories, our history and our kids are becoming themselves every day in this respect. And we're in charge of it."

He then talks about a book called "The Philosophical Baby" and how Alison Gopnik writes that parents do get to determine one very important aspect of children's adult lives, which is the "childhood they bring into it."

"It is great to be rich, smart, mentally healthy, all those things we want for our children, but it's just as valuable to have the ineradicable gift of a happy childhood," Piper says. The author then explains what he exactly means by "That's a trip to the park, hugs before bed, letting them choose the music in the car, it's doable."

Piper concludes the video by saying, "The present we can almost control or at least feel like it and that feeling is all we're dealing with here because we get to see our efforts work right now and not just hope they will."

The video garnered almost 500k voews and is captioned, "Don't worry about giving your kids a good future." Many parents loved Piper's ideas about their kids' future. @monicasey commented, "Give them a good past. Me: *burst into tears.*" @lilee783 wrote, "As a parent, who is working so hard to break the generational trauma cycle, my heart needed to hear this today."

@shannonjuneegan expressed, "This is some seriously beautiful reframing. Thanks for sharing!" @alanna_kathy337 said, "Love this idea and why haven't we thought of it before? We get so wrapped up in their future that we forget to make the now awesome!" @i_m_jreed pointed out, "Give them a good past, man, that's an amazing perspective."

In his video, Piper shared a fresh perspective on parenting and how childhood makes a huge part of anyone's life. It literally shapes who they become in the future and those memories stay with them for a lifetime.

Watch the full video here: