For Example

Father’s Day was really unusual for me this year for several reasons. For example, I didn’t actually get to see any of my four adult children yesterday, which seems like it would wreck Father’s Day, but it didn’t because my children are awesome. All four of them went out of their way to touch base with me and make sure I felt their love.

My youngest son was going out of town for the weekend, so he made the effort to stop by and see me on Thursday. My oldest son moved out of town last year, but he made the effort to call me, and we talked for half an hour about everything from golf to hockey, to outdoor grilling. My oldest daughter was at our house the day before Father’s Day, so we got to spend some quality time together and she had a couple of very thoughtful gifts for me. And that was a good thing because her son came down with Covid yesterday preventing her from attending our planned Father’s Day dinner. And my youngest daughter also had a brush with Covid, and rather than come over for a lengthy dinner party and put us at risk, she made a quick trip over to our house today instead, and hand delivered some really great gifts to her dear old Dad.

Father’s Day made me feel very blessed to have children who have turned out so great. All four of them are hard workers with big hearts. But it also reminded me of how hard it is to be a Dad… and how important it is to set a good example. I worried about them so much when they were little and tried to connect with each one. I wanted to teach them all the cool things I had learned, share some of my failures as well as successes. But my wife, the truly wise one, would always remind me, “They aren’t always going to listen to you. So you need to remember that the best way to help them learn how to be successful and happy in life, is simply to set a good example.”

My wife was right about that and it’s something that every Mother and Father needs to remember. We can’t expect our kids to do the right thing, if we don’t do the right thing, all the time. That’s a tall order, but remember there are several things you can do. For example… set a good example!

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.

My mother would come out and say, “you’re tearing up the grass.”

“We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys."
                       ~ Harmon Killebrew, Professional Base Player, 1984