Being a Dad instead of a father

Today while checking out Facebook, I noticed a post by a friend of mine. Like me he is a single Dad and a good one at that. He mentioned seeing another dad at a restaurant with his kid, the child was asking dad for help, but not getting it as dad was too busy on his phone. This led into a discussion about lousy fathers. They piss me off, if you’re going to have kids, be a dad, it’s your damn responsibility. So this got me to thinking, maybe these crappy dads don’t know how to be dads, society is taking a big dump and if these guys didn’t have someone to teach them they may be lost. So I thought about my core life principals that I have tried to pass on to my kids and I think it may be useful to others.

1    1.      Be their Dad, not their Friend, set expectations and consequences, show them how to make good choices. Be in their life actively.

2    2.       Take them camping, every kid should experience a night out in the woods looking at the stars smelling a camp fire and making s’mores. Teach them to put up the tent, build the fire, cook their own food and shit in the woods. Life lessons!

3    3.       Shoot a gun, responsibly! Yes, I said it, education is key and there are greater lessons to be learned from this but that’s another post.

4    4.       Ride a horse, every kid should experience this, it sets the soul free and sparks a bond with something bigger than one’s self.

5    5.       Shoot a bow and arrow, let them learn to focus and see outside themselves, be one with the arrow. Yes, I just said that.

6    6.       Catch a fish. This is a great way to teach so many things and spend quality time talking and disconnected from the rest of the world.

7    7.       Teach them to live by a code, to learn right from wrong. It can be any code, mine Is the 7 virtues, a warrior code.

a.       Honor

b.       Courage

c.       Benevolence

d.       Justice

e.       Respect

f.        Honesty

g.       Loyalty

8    8.       Build work ethic in them from an early age, teach them the value of money and time.

9    9.       Go on adventures, teach them to be explorers, pirates, cowboys, soldiers, and astronauts. Inspire the desire to live life not just be content with it. Inspire them to see the great country we live in, it’s a vast outdoor world. Mountains, plains, canyons and rivers, teach them to be comfortable out in the elements, to hunt, to survive, to live.

1    10.   Teach them to be men, even if they are your daughters. Men protect themselves and others, they fight for what is right and do not stand idly by while others do harm. There is a great deal they can learn from martial arts. Above all, be an example!