Enjoy the story that Peter wrote about being a Dad. You’re going to love it!!!

As fathers, we lay the foundations for our children’s lives. It is up to our kids to build their own houses upon these foundations. Therefore, each generation builds upon the success of the previous generation, and being a good dad has a lot to do with being a good son.

My daughter, Kia, is 14 years old. She is one of the smartest people I know of any age. My son, Nikolai, is 12. He has a huge heart and enthusiasm rivaling that of a fisherman describing his latest catch.

We always try to spend dinnertime together as a family. The conversation starts with each of the kids sharing three things they learned at school that day. I ask if anyone–including them–got in trouble in class, what bad things happened, and what good things happened. The kids then rank their day on a scale of 1 to 10. Sometimes, depending on the timing and mood of the meal, I make up a story over dinner as well.

My wife and I are each involved in our children’s scouting programs. In addition to the trips we take with his Boy Scout troop, Nikolai and I also enjoy taking backpacking trips together in the beautiful California mountains. Other than the cell phone we bring for emergency use only, these trips are “no electronics allowed.” We experiment with different freeze-dried foods, noting which ones we like–and which ones we will never eat again. We fish in the streams, build campfires, look at the stars, share a tent, and spend a lot of time laughing and learning together.

My daughter and I enjoy time together on our “date nights.” She and I go out and have a nice dinner, or do some other activity in which we can get away for a while and talk. One of my favorite outings with her was an impromptu date in which we simply sat together in a donut shop and talked about school. We ended up discussing the labels kids use to define their different social groups: Jocks, Freaks, EMO (EMO?!?)–I shared memories from when I was in school of not wanting to be labeled and of trying to fit-in.
Sharing memories from my own childhood helps strengthen our bond and the communication between generations. It is part of the foundation-building process. The conversations, routines, and activities I share with my children give them the tools they need to build strong houses upon their father’s firm foundation.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Daddy of the Month. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.