Everyone has a dad. Yours may no longer be with us here on Earth, or you may have never met them before. Your Dad may be someone you see daily, or miss dearly, or hope to never see again. Regardless of your relationship or history with your Dad, whether you have fond memories of this person or not, you have a man who was partly responsible for creating your life. Being a Dad doesn’t require a license and you don’t have to pass a test. There are few qualifications unfortunately to be a Dad and there is no instruction manual (not that we would read it anyway) but to those who take this responsibility seriously, and are honest with themselves, we all want to be the best Dad we can be.
I know there are Dads who don’t care about their children. There are Dads who do not want to share the responsibility for the lives they help bring into this world. There are some that are cruel or absent but they are the minority. The overwhelming majority of men who have children want to succeed at being a Dad. This is a long journey that we walk together and if you do it right and are blessed along the way, it is one you will spend the rest of your life completing. The responsibility I speak of is tremendous in my eyes because I believe as Dads it is our duty to teach, love, protect and nurture our children so that they can grow up to be strong, intelligent, mature, happy and healthy adults. We don’t have this responsibility all to ourselves normally, but Dads play a different role than Mothers. Each parent brings their own strengths, style and perspective to raising children and I believe each is equally important. Different to be sure, but just as important are the lessons and instructions and love that a Dad can give his children.
My wife sent me the video below and it appears to be produced last year from a church in Wisconsin to coincide with Father’s Day. If I was a savvy blogger, I would have kept this in my back pocket until Father’s Day this year and sprung this post on you to capitalize on the general good vibes that day traditionally brings. I am sure she saw this on Facebook and there are probably a million of you who have already seen it, but I didn’t want to wait until Father’s Day. Like I said, the job of being a Dad is a tremendous responsibility and I think it helps all of us who are walking the walk daily to have some inspiration. Just because it isn’t on the one special day of the year that Hallmark says it is OK to think about Dads, too bad.
The video is titled, “What is it like being a Dad” and shows a dad interacting with his children. When I saw it, I teared up a little, but I have been known to get misty eyed at commercials, sappy movies, my children’s recitals and pretty much anytime I wasn’t supposed to. I always BAWL at that scene in the Patriot when Mel Gibson’s characters daughter Susan comes running up to him as he is riding off to battle, crying and speaking (to him) for the first time in years, begging him not to go and saying that she will “say anything” to get him to stay. This video is nothing like that at all, but it is a good video for Dads I think. Take a look.
The man acting as the Dad in this video reacts all of the ways that I wish I reacted when dealing with my own children. I know it’s just a video and the writers make sure this Dad does it “the right way” but in this portrayal, he is compassionate, loving, and patient. He seems to be always there for his children, knows just the right words to say and the right way to say them. I look at this video and it makes ideal Dad look a lot better than the Dad I see in the mirror some days. If you ask me what is it like being a dad, I could easily communicate to you about the sleepless nights, the boo boos, the long talks and tears. You would get from me the same sense of love that this dad has for his make believe family, but I don’t always act like he does and that is something I need to work on. Sometimes I feel like I am not being a good enough dad and that I should step it up a little and this video just reminded me of what was important.
One of the main reasons I got into Prepping was for my children. I want to do anything in my power now to make sure my family is safe but sometimes I think that as Dads, we have a tendency to focus on the immediate need and miss the bigger picture. I have to remind myself sometimes to remember that it isn’t just about me. All of my prepping is for a reason and if I neglect the reason I am prepping for, what have I accomplished?
I hope this video does a few things for you Dads out there. I hope it makes you laugh and tear up a little, but more importantly I hope it allows you to refocus your attention where it needs to be if like me, it wanders from time to time. Our families are the only thing that is important when it comes to prepping and survival and we should all keep that thought at the forefront of everything we do. If we want to be the best Dad we can be, we have to spend time with our children, living life with them. It really isn’t enough to just plan and prepare for their safety, we have to have a strong bond with each of our children so they know what you will do and trust what you are saying to them. As a Dad, you have so many things that you need to teach your children and that cant happen if you aren’t spending time with them.
What if you are a man but don’t have any children? You could be the lone ranger out there and this video might not be something you see the connection on. That’s fine. I’ll keep the link here on the Prepper Journal in case you ever want to watch it again. Life has a way of changing on us all the time and you never know what might happen.