Comments on Dad of Divas: Maniverse #4 - Fears/Issues of Fatherhood

2bestrong - There definitely is a line between fri...

2008-06-22T08:27:00.000-04:00

2bestrong - There definitely is a line between friendship and fatherhod and now with my divas being young I think I still have a bit of time to learn how to balance this, but even now I find that in diciplining Diva-J, it is hard when I want her to see me as a friend, and that simply is not possible in this regard.

Rob - intollerance and fear is definitely not the route to take or to go as a dad... I steer clear of this and encourage other dads to as well...regarding the digital void...I know what you mean...this is definitely not something that will be easy to shelter your kids from as they are surrounded and compleely marketed to 24-7...and even if you shelter them...there are the neighbors, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc that you have to contend with as well.

My own Dad was always short-tempered, intolerant, ...

2008-06-18T05:58:00.000-04:00

My own Dad was always short-tempered, intolerant, unable to handle the pressures of family life, and often more feared than respected. He'd often simply leave for weeks or even months at a time. So I don't know if that's so much a fear as it is a road map - nearly everything about my own Dad serves as a constant guide for what not to do now that I'm finally a Dad myself.

I'm concerned about how our society seem to be blindly willing to plunge our kids into the digital void where their every waking moment is saturated by media. So I fear that the old-school values we want to instill in him will buckle as our little guy gets older and is subject to intense peer pressures.

I think the biggest accomplishment my father made ...

2008-06-17T19:28:00.000-04:00

I think the biggest accomplishment my father made with me was to be my 'father' during those teenage years and not my 'friend'.
He became one of my very best friends once I was able to be a man on my own.
I think sometimes Dad's forget to differentiate the two.
Great post.

Mrs. 4444 - I wonder what I will have to do to she...

2008-06-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

Mrs. 4444 - I wonder what I will have to do to shelter my girls (at least somewhat)...I now watch cosely for their safety and security, but I know in the future this will only expand....even when they don't want me to be engaged in such a way.

Jeremy, I agree - life is definitely more rewarding... and it is something I look forward to each day - though some days are harder than others.

Well I don't have any kids but I can completely un...

2008-06-09T17:56:00.000-04:00

Well I don't have any kids but I can completely understand the reason for these fears. I just hope when I do actually become a parent I'll have put myself in a position to not worry too much, seeing that regardless you'll have to worry. Good post sir.

Great post Chris! I can't speak for other dads, b...

2008-06-07T12:15:00.000-04:00

Great post Chris! I can't speak for other dads, but I know that I definitely worry about many of those things you listed. I tend to be an optimistic guy, but life is harder than people imagine when growing up, especially once you become a parent. The thing is, though, while life is harder, it's also more rewarding now. Thanks for making me think!

I'm sure Mr.4444 would have the same #1, followed ...

2008-06-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

I'm sure Mr.4444 would have the same #1, followed by #3 (even though he is an amazing dad!!) I wouldn't call them fears, but I do have a couple of goals; one is to get my son as far through high school as possible before he gets drunk. (lots of alcholism in our families). So far, so good. He is a healthy kid with lots of emotional outlets and is very active at school. I'm not naive enough to think it won't happen; I just want him to have gained as much maturity as possible before he gets there.

The other goal is to continue to protect my daughter's innocence; she is the sweetest 13-year-old you'll ever meet, and my goal is to continue to guide her without protecting her too much. I was not protected as a child, and I'm very proud of the job we've done with Kendall. I can't wait to see who she turns out to be!