What has your dad taught you?
Maybe he taught you things intentionally. Maybe unintentionally.
Some of you didn’t have a dad to teach you anything. For this I am sorry.
I’ve heard my 2-year-old son Arrow playing with his sisters and when something doesn’t go his way there’s a distinctive growl that erupts to the surface. Where have I heard that growl before?
Oh ya. From my own gut.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Something I taught him unintentionally. Actually I’m pretty sure I’ve heard all my kids make the same growl at one time or another.
Now that I think of it, I’ve heard my dad make that growl too. Hmmm…
I was blessed to have a great dad. He wasn’t perfect but he was great. He still is.
But he didn’t just teach me to growl.
One of the most important things my dad taught me was to say, “I’m sorry”. He has the humility to admit when he’s wrong. He has the humility to apologize for his mistakes.
Since I make my fair share of mistakes I’ve had the “opportunity” to apologize lots of times.
Whether it’s calling my brother-in-law to apologize for something dumb I said at
Thanksgiving dinner or apologizing to one of my identical twin daughters for mistakenly punishing them instead of their sister! (True stories! Still can’t remember which one did what!)
While you’re out there dad-ing I encourage you to apologize to your kids.
Sometimes I even apologize in advance. Maybe that’s going overboard. I tell my eldest daughter that I’m sorry if I’m parenting wrong, I’ve never had a teenage daughter before and I’m just trying to do my best.
Maybe it’s a Canadian thing. I hear we apologize a lot. Sorry about that.
When was the last time you apologized for something?