Partnership for Dads was founded with a mission to help fathers become more involved parents and build strong families so that their children can have the best possible life. The importance of this effort and how we’re working to achieve our goals will be the focus of our lecture this weekend, where we discuss “Our Mission for Dads”.
As I write this, our first-born is just back home from his first year of college and our youngest is soon to finish her junior year of high school. A window will close soon for us. That window through which we enjoy hours and hours physically together most days, molding each other. That window closure is the natural way of things; it truly is the way it’s meant to be as they become their own people. Though this dad finds that bittersweet, it’s much easier to face knowing I have no big regrets.
That’s not to say I didn’t make mistakes; I made tons of them, and continue to very regularly. But I don’t look back and say “I wish I’d made more effort to be a part of it all.” I was intentional, from well before they were born, about being as much a part of their childhood as humanly possible. For all the miscues in the past and future, getting that one right has made all the difference for them, and for me.
Barack Obama has become increasingly reflective as his term as President winds down. On the impact of his father and mother on his life and his role as a father to his own daughters, it’s clear this man knows what a father is. The President and Academy Award winning actor Bryan Cranston sit down in the Oval Office with the New York Times and discuss parenting in this must read article. Check it out at http://nyti.ms/23u9qlk.