“Buddy, I said come out of there.” I repeated for the second time, my voice getting a bit louder. “You need to listen to Daddy!” We were both tired, my three year old son and I, as well as a bit cranky stemming from the very recent transition we were making. No longer was he staying home all day with Mom, but rather I was getting him up early each morning to take him to preschool.
It was then that she walked up from behind. “Lukas you can choose to stay in your rocket” she announced, “But that will leave no time to read stories before bed. Now what do YOU want to choose?” It was at that point that my son opened the door, and without saying a word made his way to the stairs to start his bedtime routine.
“Remember, give him choices” she gently reminded me as I once again stood there in awe of my wife’s ability to effectively communicate with our child, no matter how tired or resistant he is being.
True, this site was created to highlight the Dad Revolution and talk about how we, as dads are bucking the stereotypes that abound about the role that fathers play in the upbringing of their children. The Dad Revolution writers are all extremely progressive fathers with unbounding love for our children. That’s precisely why we take the time to write about our experiences.
But as most of you know well enough, the best parenting isn’t done alone. It’s a team effort. I would be willing to bet, that to a man, the dads here would agree that we couldn’t bring to the table the daily content that we do without the solid support of our partners. I certainly know that as dedicated a father as I am, my job would be exponentially more difficult without my wife, affectionately known as Mrs. LIAYF over at my blog Luke, I am Your Father, at my side.
In fact, before knowing her and having a child together I had very little concept of what simply being a parent, much less a good one, was all about.
I have learned so much from not only watching her interact with our son, but also from discussing with her our separate philosophies of how to handle difficult situations as they arise. We have, and will continue to, grow together on this parenting journey. She is, as I love to say A Peach, and I certainly wouldn’t be a Dad Blogger today without her love and undying support.
So, as you are enjoying the deeply personal reflections on parenting from the perspective of a group of dedicated fathers, don’t think for a moment that we are doing this all on our own.
The Dad Revolution team is bigger than most people realize.