{"id":2268780,"date":"2024-06-16T03:31:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T07:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/am-i-doing-this-right-lessons-on-fatherhood-from-great-dads\/"},"modified":"2024-06-16T03:33:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T07:33:52","slug":"am-i-doing-this-right-lessons-on-fatherhood-from-great-dads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/am-i-doing-this-right-lessons-on-fatherhood-from-great-dads\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I a Good Dad? Insights on Fatherhood from the Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fam-i-doing-this-right-lessons-on-fatherhood-from-great-dads%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2268780&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article explores the personal reflections of a man on \u2063fatherhood as Father\u2019s Day approaches, delving into his experiences and uncertainties over 17 years of being a dad. He recounts early challenges\u2063 like installing a car seat and the ongoing struggles of parenting tweens and teenagers who find it embarrassing to be seen with \u200ctheir parents. \u2062Despite these challenges, he believes he\u2019s managed\u2062 well, \u2063emphasizing the love for his children and the mistakes he\u2019s learned\u2063 from.<\/p>\n<p>He credits much of his\u2062 success as a father to the examples\u2064 set by his own dad and his father-in-law, both of\u2063 whom grew\u200d up in post-World \u2063War II America and raised \u200ctheir children with dignity and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/premiering-10-pm-et-standing-praying-for-america-americas-hope-september-22\/\" title=\"Premiering at 10 PM ET: Praying for America | America's Hope (Sept 22)\">strong moral values<\/a>. He shares valuable\u200c advice \u2064he received from them, including the importance of not acting foolishly, recognizing that nothing in\u200d life comes without effort, basing decisions on facts\u2062 rather than \u200dfeelings, and \u2064always maintaining a sense of humor. \u200dThese lessons from \u2063enduring, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-jr-opens-up-about-place-in-politics-felt-like-i-was-acting-in-the-boardroom\/\" title=\"Trump Jr. Opens Up About Place In Politics: Felt Like I Was \u2018Acting\u2019 In The Boardroom\">hard-working men<\/a> have\u200b profoundly shaped his approach\u200b to fatherhood and life.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p><em>Am I doing this right?<\/em> It\u2019s a question I have often pondered as a dad. And Father\u2019s Day naturally prompts such reflection.<\/p>\n<p><em>Am I doing this right?<\/em> and the other side of that coin \u2014 <em>What am I doing wrong?<\/em> \u2014 have popped up plenty of times over my 17-plus years of fatherhood. The questions began almost immediately, as I struggled to install our newborn\u2019s car seat, for instance. <em>Am I doing this right?<\/em> echoed in my head, as did white-hot rage at the makers of the sadistic car seat and some colorful words and expressions I had learned from my dad many years before. <em>What am I doing wrong?<\/em> has come up quite a bit in recent years, as our tween and two teens seem to believe being seen in public with their parents is tantamount to hanging out with the kid who wipes boogers on his pant leg. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-642252248\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f755df64db57d1d62c73549e065ee4a3 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f755df64db57d1d62c73549e065ee4a3\"><\/div>\n<p>I know I try to be a good dad. I know I love my kids more than my life. I know none of them are broken, and that\u2019s victory in and of itself after nearly two decades in the dad business. Despite the challenges, being a father remains one of the smartest things I\u2019ve done in a lifetime of questionable decisions (as the previous owner of a Michael Jackson \u201cThriller\u201d jacket, the \u201cThompson Twins Greatest Hits,\u201d and a Chevette, trust me on this one).  <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Champion Dads<\/h2>\n<p>Any success I\u2019ve had in daddom is greatly attributable to a couple of fantastic dads in my life \u2014 my old man and my father-in-law. Guys that grew up in post-World-War II America and grew kids with dignity, respect, and a moral compass. Much of the useful advice I\u2019ve gotten about being a dad and a man came from these two men. <\/p>\n<p>Advice like: <\/p>\n<p>1. Don\u2019t be an idiot. More so, <em>Of all the things you could choose to be, why would you choose to be an idiot?<\/em> And of the idiots, my favorite saying from the old man has to be, <em>He\u2019s so dumb he couldn\u2019t pour piss out of a boot if the directions were on the heel<\/em>. In short, don\u2019t be like that guy. Don\u2019t be an idiot.   <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ba40ef805e78658ca70bb761762ba26 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ba40ef805e78658ca70bb761762ba26\"><\/div>\n<p>2. Nobody owes you anything. These guys worked in factories. They used their hands and their brains to support their families. They spent their formative years mowing lawns, picking green beans for the local canning plant, baling hay on farms, and delivering newspapers on their bikes. They learned early the value of hard work and a dollar, and that nothing in life is free. Let\u2019s just say these are not \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/worklife\/article\/20230731-the-great-resignation-is-over-what-does-that-mean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Great Resignation<\/a>\u201d kind of guys. <\/p>\n<p>3. Feelings are poor substitutes for facts. In this reality-bending era of <a href=\"https:\/\/hr.ucmerced.edu\/content\/speaking-your-truth-5-whys#:~:text=What%20do%20I%20mean%20when,feels%20the%20stakes%20are%20high.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cspeak your truth\u201d<\/a> and so-called spectrums of identity, the fathers I have admired taught me to speak the truth and identify with the real. My old man would not recognize the world he left nearly 15 years ago. He would have plenty to say about it, I\u2019m sure of that, including some colorful words and expressions he first learned from his father. <\/p>\n<p>4. Never lose your sense of humor. The old man loved to laugh. And his was big and booming and joyous. I can still hear it at times in my own laughter, and in my son\u2019s. My father-in-law possesses a wit sharper than a Ginsu knife. One of the great pleasures of my life has been listening to their stories and their laughter. Their lesson has not been lost: Don\u2019t take things too seriously. As the old man used to say, nobody gets out of this world alive. <\/p>\n<p>In this absurd time, you either laugh or you cry. The lesson is of immeasurable value when, for instance, while changing a diaper you are greeted with a hurricane-force wind of projectile poop that defies the laws of physics and befouls you and everything around you.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4aeb1d94cc486266805399e4b22405d8 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4aeb1d94cc486266805399e4b22405d8\"><\/div>\n<p>5. Remember, you\u2019re not alone. My <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-red-wave-of-conservative-women-elected-to-congress\/\" title=\"The Red Wave of Conservative Women Elected to Congress\">role models<\/a> could never be accused of being overly demonstrative in their faith, but faith has long been fundamental to their lives \u2014 and how they approached fatherhood. Sure, my father-in-law used to torment his German-speaking Lutheran confirmation instructors to madness, and my dad once made a Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses missionary question his mission, but they have carried with them a belief in something bigger than themselves. They both put faith at the center of their lives and the lives of their families. <\/p>\n<p>They say that 90 percent of being a parent is showing up. There\u2019s a good deal of truth to that. Too many fathers in a selfish society are refusing to be there for their kids. My dad role models showed up \u2014 in the good times and bad. They could never be accused of being perfect men, just like the man who reveres them. But they never stopped trying, and they never stopped loving their children. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d say that\u2019s doing it right.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-be79b7b25c44977e91a400488ca7786a fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-be79b7b25c44977e91a400488ca7786a\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a dad, I frequently question my parenting, especially on Father&#8217;s Day. &#8220;Am I doing this right?&#8221; and &#8220;What am I doing wrong?&#8221; are constant thoughts throughout my 17-plus years of fatherhood. These reflections are a natural part of the journey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2268781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Father-sundown-scaled.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2268780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Father-sundown-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2268780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2268781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2268780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2268780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2268780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}