1. We don't breastfeed.
2. We don't often change the nappies when the baby drops a Poop bomb.
3. We didn't go through labor (not the work labor, the pregnant labor)
4. We don't have to carry blobs of water and a baby inside our tummy for nine months.
5. We don't have to teach our kids how to wash their arses when they get bigger.
6. We don't go through the pains of doing the laundry, cooking, etc.
And more.
All we have to do is to work our butts off to make some money to provide for their needs. Every now and then, we give some fatherly advice. Basically that's it. The other things are just the added value to our fatherhood, like a bonus to the child.
It's hard to set a good example when we know that we're not perfect and are full of defects. We're like old computers that would be obsolete by the time our children gets older.
A notable father figure to me, who was a good friend, former classmate and fellow lawyer of my dad told me that:
"As fathers, we want our children to be the next stage in the evolutionary process. Every father should want their child to be a better person
in all respects than who we are."
The insight stuck with me.
That's why I'd like to enjoin my fellow fathers to forget about the LCD TV, car accessory, novel, knick knacks and other things that most dads want on fathers' day.
I'm proposing two things that could make fathers' day even more special:
- Let's not make it about us. Let's make it about our wives and children. After all, without them, we would not be fathers at all!
- Give our children the fathers that they truly deserve. Every kid deserves a good father. Try to think of ways by which we can ensure that they have better lives in the future - try to have a conversation and then ask them what makes them happy.
A troubling fact of life nowadays is that there are just too many bad fathers. Fathers who think about themselves more than they think about the families that they started. These are very difficult times. To be sure, there are more temptations now more than ever.
These are times when all it takes to wreck a family is one single night of a wrong decision - and it's all gone.
The good news is, we can always try and start over again. We can always make a fresh start.
Forgiveness can only come with repentance and a genuine desire to change.
Our lives would always be made up of our choices.
Yes, you can always choose to be a better father.
Happy fathers' day to all the fathers out there!
May you have the desire to become even better fathers than you already are!
