dads

Loving my son, building my son, touching my son, playing with my son, being with my son_ these aren__ tasks that only super dads can perform. These are tasks that every dad should perform. Always. Without fail.

Dads. Do your faces light up when you first see your child in the morning or when you come home from work? Do you not understand that a child__ entire sense of value can revolve around what they see in your face when you first see them?

Do you not realize that your kids are going to make mistakes, and a lot of them? Do you not realize the damage you do when you push your son__ nose into his mishaps or make your daughter feel worthless because she bumped or spilled something? Do you have any idea how easy it is to make your child feel abject? It__ as simple as letting out the words, __hy would you do that!?_ or __ow many times have I told you_

Dads. Do you not realize that a child is what you tell them they are? That people almost always become what they are labeled? Was whatever your child just did really the __umbest thing you__e ever seen somebody do_? Was it really the __ost ridiculous thing they ever could have done_? Do you really believe that your child is an idiot? Because she now does. Think about that. Because you said it, she now believes it. Bravo.

Dads. It__ time to tell our kids that we love them. Constantly. It__ time to show our kids that we love them. Constantly. It__ time to take joy in their twenty-thousand daily questions and their inability to do things as quickly as we__ like. It__ time to take joy in their quirks and their ticks. It__ time to take joy in their facial expressions and their mispronounced words. It__ time to take joy in everything that our kids are.

Children are gifts. They are not ours for the breaking. They are ours for the making.

No one ever thinks about the guy who was raised by the guy who was raised by wolves.

Dads. It__ time to show our sons how to properly treat a woman. It__ time to show our daughters how a girl should expect be treated. It__ time to show forgiveness and compassion. It__ time to show our children empathy. It__ time to break social norms and teach a healthier way of life! It__ time to teach good gender roles and to ditch the unnecessary ones. Does it really matter if your son likes the color pink? Is it going to hurt anybody? Do you not see the damage it inflicts to tell a boy that there is something wrong with him because he likes a certain color? Do we not see the damage we do in labeling our girls __om boys_ or our boys __eminine_ just because they have their own likes and opinions on things? Things that really don__ matter?

I won,_ said Chelsea__ dad, and went to give Chelsea a high-five, but missed, as they were standing too close.__y fault,_ he said. __hat was my fault.___h,_ Chelsea said.And he stepped back a little and tried again, but Chelsea, distracted now by something__aybe the plant in the far corner, standing and waiting like a person in a dream; or maybe the green shoe or some other thing that was out there and longing, to be looked at, and taken__asn__ ready, and their hands, his then hers, passed through the air in a kind of wave, a little goodbye.

If we want to raise children who will remain faithful to Christ and His Church, they need to see fathers on their knees in prayer.

Good fathers, and by that I mean real fathers who are there, have the ability to change almost every social problem we now find ourselves facing. I__ be assumptive enough to say that there isn__ a single type of crime or a single problem so big that it couldn__ be fixed or wiped out if fathers would just step up.

I am far from a perfect dad. And I always will be. But I__ a damn good dad, and my son will always feel bigger than anything life can throw at him. Why? Because I get it. I get the power a dad has in a child__ life, and in a child__ level of self-belief. I get that everything I ever do and ever say to my son will be absorbed, for good or for bad.

Fishing is much less about the fishing, and much more about the time alone with your kid, away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday.

Dads. Do you honestly expect anybody to believe that you can__ find 20 minutes to step away from your computer or turn off the television to play with your child? It has to happen every single day. Do you not understand that children will hinge their entire facet of trust on whether or not their dad plays with them and how involved he is when he plays with them? Do you know the damage you do by not playing with your children every day?

Do we not see the influence we have when we say we believe in one thing, but our children see us living something else? Do we not realize how little we encourage our children to actually decide what they believe, declare what they believe, and then live by it? Whether it__ religion, politics, sports, or societal norms. It is not our place to tell our kids what to think. It is our place to teach our kids to think correctly. If we do this, we need have no fear of what they will decide for themselves and how strongly they__l stand behind it. A man will follow his own convictions to his death, but he__l only follow another man__ convictions until he steps in manure.

Dads. Do you not realize that your child needs to feel your skin on his? Do you not realize the incredible and powerful bond that skin on skin contact with your daughter will give you? Do you not understand the permanent mental connections that are made when you stroke your son__ bare back or rub your daughter__ bare tummy while you tell bedtime stories? And if any idiot says anything about that being inappropriate, you__e gonna get kicked in the face, first by me, and then by every other good dad out there. Touching your child is your duty as a father.

And if you are a mom who has watched your child__ father leave, my heart goes out to you. I also pray that you had no part in it. I pray that you didn__ make it impossible for him while he was there. I pray that you didn__ try and force him to live up to impossible expectations. And, I pray that if he is a good man and he wants to be there in his child__ life that you love your child enough to let him. Even if that seems impossible to you.

So many people think that they are not gifted because they don__ have an obvious talent that people can recognize because it doesn__ fall under the creative arts category__riting, dancing, music, acting, art or singing. Sadly, they let their real talents go undeveloped, while they chase after fame. I am grateful for the people with obscure unremarked talents because they make our lives easier---inventors, organizers, planners, peacemakers, communicators, activists, scientists, and so forth. However, there is one gift that trumps all other talents__eing an excellent parent. If you can successfully raise a child in this day in age to have integrity then you have left a legacy that future generations will benefit from.