How a Family Lives

Fatherhood for me has not always been smooth and easy. Fathers to me tend to equate to my own experiences with my own. Raising a boy like my own son has opened my eyes to allow me to see what it must have been like for my own father who was also raising a boy and trying his best. Raising boys has led me to believe that we, as fathers, are all capable of meeting the requirements to be successful. Moms and boys are another story that I won't go into here, but my own observation of my wife helping raise our 3 year old boy has been interesting to say the least. My whole view and end goal to this life of fathering is that we are raising the next generation, raising people, yes the new people that will take over from us. Part of my goal then is the act of raising confident boys that will stand strong in the next generation.

Raising girls has another feel to it from raising boys. I mean this in that someone has told me that a father in the life of a girl is one of the most important aspects of growing up for raising confident girls. Doesn't raising confident boys mean that fathers only really need to be the man's man? Girl's on the other hand require the presence of a father, a man about the house not just for the sake of it but for finding they are indeed pretty as peaches. If I were reading a newspaper, my sacred event of the day, would I not put down the paper, look at her, have her spin about and finally comment on her beauty and finesse. Now the dress may be a tattery old thing more refined to the dress up box, but it doesn't matter, she is simple impressed by the simple comment from fathers. Moms and boys equate to a similar pattern with roles reversed, but I will save that for another blog later.

On Fatherhood In The Year 2009

On Fatherhood in the year 2009 for me has been a series of new experiences, concerns and complete happiness in more ways than one। I think of my daughter, 6 and my son, 3, and I wonder what they will be like in their teens. Will I actually survive until then, both as a mature adult and as a parent; will my sanity be preserved past my prime years. Many things outside of the family structure also tend to mold the equation. The world financial crisis, the job market, the ability to get up in the morning when you have spent countless hours working hard to make ends meet. Further to the problem, although it may seem minor to some, is the driving to and from work, school and extra-curricular activities that drains the fuel tank at an alarming rate. On Fatherhood in the year 2009 has shown me that although I have all these concerns, my children are able to live life sheltered from the many pitfalls of the greater world. The world is a challenging place to say the least, but as my children grow I try to embed a knowledge of self-reliance that clings to a sense of self-worth. Many children I see today have no active fatherhood in their homes and they certainly don’t see it much in the current media. For at least the last few thousand years the male role-model has been the glue that has held societies together. Now I am not sexist, but I do believe that men need to step up to the inherent right of fatherhood, and I am sexist in the fact that only men can be fathers to their children. My children are fortunate in that they have both a mother and father to call their own. Many fathers, I am talking to myself included, can also step out of their comfort zone, if they feel stable enough to do so, and commit to fathering the fatherless also within their own communities. On Fatherhood in the year 2009 I have come to realize that fatherhood has not changed since time began, and I intend to personally carry out my end of the responsibility I deem worthy to put my life into wholeheartedly.