Fathers and Sons

I'm totally devoted to ALL my children but lately I've found myself thinking more about my relationship to my little boy and how I can be a good father. My dad and I were not too close growing up and I had to be a father figure to my two brothers early on. No matter, I'm now charged with raising my own boy. I'll do all the things a man is supposed to to raise a boy and turn him into a fine man.

There are so many things to teach that you sometimes get overwhelmed. Everything from little things like showing him how to eat an Oreo. how to put a baseball in a new glove and wrap it up tight to break it in, the joys of "building stuff", running through the grass barefoot, the wonders of staring at the moon and stars. Then theres all the serious stuff  like never telling him boys don't cry but asking him why he's crying, being responsible and making him understand that even a small lie makes him a liar, being nice to his sisters and learning to respect women...and one of the hardest for me, allowing him to fail. There is so much more, its an ongoing process that I'm still learning to cherish no matter how serious, silly, or important it may be.

This is about as serious as I've been here...I sometimes see all the madness in this world, the hate, the killing, war, poverty, man's inhumanity to man...it can get overwhelming...BUT...when its me and my boy, together, alone, rolling around on the floor playing "Daddy Bear and Baby Bear", I look in his eyes and see it all, joy, love, hope.

Men, love your boys, teach them well, make them men you can be proud of!