Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Daddy...again.

As I sit in front of my computer, my new baby daughter Chloe is crying in the background awaiting her evening meal.  My son is busily trying to get us ready to watch a movie that he has proudly chosen.  Needless to say, my life has been different since last Tuesday.  That was the day my daughter entered the world.

I don't want to say having a second child is not as hard as the first time, but it is definitely easier.  The big change this time was having to wrap my head around the fact that I have a daughter.  I am already super protective of her.  I am protective of my son, but I am already worrying about "that guy" Chloe brings home that will not measure up to my standard for her.

I am teaching my son how to act in society.  Some of you might think, "A bit young to start teaching that as a four-year-old, isn't it?"  My answer to that is a resounding no.  The more he learns and the faster he learns it, the better off he will be.  One of my favorite Bible verses is in Proverbs where it says, "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."  Kids are going to make some, to put it bluntly, bonehead decisions in their lives as they grow up.  My job as a Daddy to a boy is train him what it means to grow up and become a real man, friend, boyfriend, husband, and dad.  I am OK with this job.  I love this job in my life.  It is a lot of pressure, but it has been rather easy so far.  However, my job description just changed as far as fatherhood goes.

With the birth of Chloe, my daughter, I become not only a guide but a protector.  My wife will teach her a lot about what it means to be a woman in the world.  However, my role is to show her what she needs to look for in her relationships with the male species.  Granted, taking a cue from Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame and taking her first boyfriend hunting for snakes and loaded guns is not such a bad idea either, but I digress.

I know I don't get the award for Blogger of the Year because I don't blog that much.  I blog about what's on my mind at the present time or if the Fatherhood Initiative is encouraging fathers to do something and I want to share my experiences.  However, I am trying my hardest to get Father of the Year and that is why I don't blog that much on a regular basis.

Ironically, we are watching Taken 2 tonight.  It is a sequel to Taken, obviously.  When I first watched Liam Neeson travel half-way around the world to find his kidnapped daughter, I thought that was a little far-fetched.  Now that Chloe is here, I would do it.  It's like Liam Neeson's character says to the bad guys on the phone, "I will find you, and I will hurt you." Well, it didn't exactly say that, but I'm trying to keep it PG here.

In closing, I challenge those of you reading this to take an active roles in your children's lives.  I now have a son and daughter and while my role is similar in both of their lives, it is different as well.  We as fathers have to teach our sons how men are to act and behave.  We as fathers are to teach our daughters not to settle for anyone or anything.  Both sons and daughters need to know that they can ask Daddy for anything and we will go around the world and back to help them.

As always, be the Fathers God wants us to be and the Daddys our children (sons and daughters) need us to be.