[civilitty]

At the same time though, as a parent you have the long term outlook that is largely impossible for a child to develop on their own (before adulthood, at least). The vast majority of people have regrets about things they didn't do as a kid and while pushing their offspring to make up for their own childhood is dangerous, you have to strike a balance. Soft skills like being able to devote time to practice and doing something that you're not quite into are valuable on their own, even if interest in the actual field never develops.

I was one of those kids who hated guitar and piano lessons for years as my parents pushed me into them. I was never very good and hated practicing but nowadays, I really wish that I had taken it more seriously. There are so many uses for my time now that I can't bring myself to commit to learning a musical instrument from scratch but I crave the creative outlet of playing music. My parents' approach to many such subjects was the complete opposite to their approach to programming, which started with the guidance and material help of an IT admin from my mother's university even before the first music lessons. They were completely hands off and I was all the better for it, but I can't help but think that if maybe they had combined the two approaches to music, like they did by hiring a really good teacher for painting & drawing, I wouldn't be lamenting the way the chips fell.