|
|
 |
What does a good father do? As near as I can tell a good
father spends time with his kids. I heard somewhere that the average father spends about
10 minutes a week with his kids. I can't believe that. It might be true but I can't let
myself believe it because if I did then I might think that all I had to do to be a
"good" father was spend more than ten minutes a week with my kids. To some
fathers who have very busy schedules ten minutes might seem like a lot of time. But what
it seems like to the Dad doesn't matter, it's what it seems like to the child that counts.
|
When I first became a father I made a promise to myself that I was going to be the
best father there ever was. I spent every spare minute with my daughter. I got involved in
the things she was doing and I included her in everything I did. I was the only father I
ever saw that took his kid into the men's room to change a diaper. I always tried to treat
her with respect and I talked to her like an adult and asked her opinion about things. One
Saturday when she was about 3 years old I had to go to the bank so naturally I asked her
if she wanted to go. She said "Sure, Dad" so we headed out and I was feeling all
proud of myself for being the best father in the world and spending so much time with my
daughter. Then after I buckled her into the car she looked up at me and asked "Do you
live at your bank Daddy?" That hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I was spending every
waking moment that I wasn't at work with my kid but I suddenly realized that from her
perspective I was just a guy who spent a few hours with her in the evenings and all day on
weekends. The fact that I slept there didn't mean anything to her because she was sleeping
then too. I started taking her to work with me when I could and when she got old enough to
work she got a job at my office... then she moved away to college and I don't see her at
all anymore. I hope I did a good job.
|
|
