I have only a few pet peeves...okay I probably have a lot, but I am quiet about most of them. But here is one of my worst. Whenever my lovely wife gets away for a few hours or as in these next 3 days is out of town, I typically get the same response. "Oh, that's nice you are baby sitting the kids." Umm...excuse me, but I am their father, I don't baby sit my kids, I only...er....watch them...or be their dad...or I am not sure what you call it but it is certainly not "babysitting." That is something we pay a teenage girl to do.
Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that dads have gotten a bad rep. Some deserved, some not. We don't always step up and actually be the one who is engaged with their kids hearts or be the ones who take an active role in shaping them or lack the confidence to take care of them properly. That is something I have endeavored to undue in my own upbringing. While my dad hit the road when he found out I came into existence, I have felt a tremendous call to be the dad I never had and frankly be the dad God called me to be.
On that note, one of the best resources I have ever seen has been Men's Fraternity. We just completed the first season of it at Suncrest and it was a tremendous help to the guys who participated. This morning as we sat around one big table together, it was awesome to sense that each guy was not alone in their struggle to be the man, husband and father God had called them to be.
Now...anyone want to have a lonely dad and 3 kids over for dinner????
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4 comments:
Doug, Doug, Doug! You are exactly right! I hate it when people say dad is babysitting, for exactly the same reasons you mentioned. By the way, I often pray for the dads in our church, and for the Men's Fraternity in particular. Kids need their dads to be there for them. No such thing as quality time without the quantity time. My own soapbox...
Thanks Lynn and Amen!!
You are a great dad Doug! I mean come on - you have a karate hamster!
Everybody loves kung fu fighting.
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