All sports parents want to see their children succeed. You want your kids to get playing time, and some want their kids to get a lot of playing time.

Some parents are like playing-time junkies. If your child doesn’t play a certain amount, you don’t get your fix and the withdrawal isn’t pretty.

I suffered from that addiction. It was hard watching my kids sit on the bench when I felt they should be playing. I’ve agonized, lost sleep, wanted to chew the coach out and even shed tears. Yes, I’ve been a pretty intense sports parent.

When my kids went to college, I wanted to be done with stressing over their playing time. I guess you could say I want to be free of my addiction.

All three kids played in college. Today, all three are out of college and working, and guess what: Playing time is a moot point. In the overall scheme of life, playing time is not really so important.

Let me repeat that: In the overall scheme of life, playing time is not so important!

This whole process of playing sports – unless your child go on to the pros – is meaningless if your child gets nothing out of it but a lot of playing time.

If your child is young, just starting out, please, please learn from my mistakes. Don’t stress about playing time and sports issues that will not matter in five or 10 years. Don’t become a playing time junkie.

Focus instead on things that will help your child develop character and strength that will be with him for a lifetime.

Janis B. Meredith, sports mom and coach's wife, writes a sports parenting blog called JBM Thinks. She authored the Sports Parenting Survival Guide Series and has recently launched a podcasting series for sports parents. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.