Each year I have a sort of theme for my year, and this year my theme is being a father. I have several goals for this year related to being a father. The next five years, I am realizing, are crucial for my kids. So I wanted to put in place good habits that would enrich our relationship together. Something that would make them less afraid of me and less likely to think of me just as a jerk. So I started Sunday morning dates. I have four kids, so each Sunday I have a date with one of my kids, and we do something together. This usually is not a date that costs money. With my daughter sometimes I play Barbies (although I detest Barbie and all she stands for, I love my daughter), and with all of my kids I often take the dogs on walks together. The kids all look forward to this time, and it is a real joy for me. Sometimes I take my kids birding, and sometimes we go to McDonald's and get breakfast burritos (which have gotten smaller and smaller through the years).
I had a friend in college who said that her dad would come home from work every night and spend one hour with her sister and then one hour with her. She grew up felling extremely loved by her father. Time is such a valuable resource, isn't it. Bill Gates may earn more money that me, and I may earn more money than the common person in rural East Africa, but we all are given the same amount of time.
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