The following is an excerpt of The Two-Minute Drill to Manhood by John Croyle, former all-American defensive end at the University of Alabama for coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and founder of Big Oak Ranch.
When the score in a football game is close, you know that during those last two minutes, you've got to get down the length of the field. Every play, every movement, and every assignment are magnified. During the two-minute drill, you can't give up the ball. You've got to do everything you can to keep the ball in order to score. Every down is like a crucial fourth and goal play. You use every play to get a first down so that you maintain possession of the ball. Our relationship with our children is the same. Many times we say, "Oh, it's just one down or missed opportunity," but let me elaborate.
Watch an interview with John Croyle, author of The Two-Minute Drill to Manhood and The Two-Minute Drill to Parenting. The article continues below.
The day your first child is born, your stomach is full of butterflies as you realize this child is relying totally on you. The opportunities are endless. That child cannot do anything alone and is 100 percent dependent on you. By the time your child is six or seven, your job is down to about 80 percent because now they are able to be somewhat independent from you in some areas of life. By the time they are sixteen, your job is 85 to 90 percent finished. The moment they get a driver's license, everything changes. Your role shifts to fine-tuning. They are both able and anxious to make choices on their own. Don't let it take you by surprise or let this time in your child's life and yours sneak up on you! Don't be the parent who sits at high school graduation crying because you are scared spitless that your child isn't ready. You can make sure they are.
The two-minute drill heightens perspective. The final outcome of the game depends on it because there are no "do overs." If we don't win, no one will remember us, or at best they will remember us as losers. As parents, we all want to win. We want to win our children's hearts, souls, minds, spirits, and their bodies. We want them to be quality people, filled with character, integrity, and honor. We can't wait until they are seven years old, or worse yet, teenagers, to start teaching these principles to them. We've all heard the theories that 85 percent of our child's characteristics are determined before their sixth birthday. I believe that to be true. At Big Oak Ranch, the younger we get children, the better chance we have of molding them. As a parent, you may think you have a span of eighteen years to reach these goals. In reality it's probably more like twelve years to fine-tune the foundation you've already built prior to their sixth birthday.
As parents, we are here to lay a foundation in our child's heart that will enable him or her to grow into maturity. When we take away all of the parenting books in the world, all of the "experts," parenting is in its simplest form preparing our children for life. We can look at this quest as a privilege to develop our child's character, morals, values, and decision-making processes; or we can look at it as an impossible, insurmountable task. We also get to lead them to know Christ personally and make decisions regarding their eternal security, teach them how to choose a life mate, and teach them how to choose a life profession. In other words we get to form a happy, well-balanced young adult who will choose a like-minded spouse. Talk about a ripple effect; if we produce a well-balanced adult and they marry a well-balanced adult, and they have well-balanced children, we have helped build a generation of productive individuals.