For NFL star Victor Cruz, the most important thing he hopes to instilL in his daughter is the knowledge that she can be anything she wants to be.
Founder of the Victor Cruz Foundation which emphasizes educating children through the STEAM system (science, technology, engineering, art, math), it’s no surprise that Victor told Life of Dad that he wants his daughter “to understand who she is and the things she wants in life and that no one can tell her no.” He added, “I think she will go far in life.”
Victor’s goal with his foundation is to teach children the significance of a good education, something he did not understand fully growing up. But when it comes to changes of the times, he said the biggest difference he sees from when he was a kid to now raising his own is safety. “You can’t go outside and be as open as you once were. Nowadays you don’t know what can happen… I now know what my mom is talking about when she said she used to worry every time I left the house.”
Worrying, though, is just a part of being a parent. Victor offered this as advice for new fathers: “Just be extremely patient. You definitely need it when you have a newborn. Be as involved as you can. Do all the little things. Learn what it takes to be a dad not just emotionally, but physically as well. Just have fun. You just want to enjoy those moments. Try and be around your kids as much as possible. Those are the moments that you can’t take back.”
Cruz’s daughter, Kennedy, will be two in January. He and her mother became engaged on the day of her baptism.
