Fathers usually have immense joy, fun, and adventure accompanied by serious confusion, fatigue and stress as a parent!
The ‘how to be a father’ information juggernaut is out there.
You will find an abundance of websites, blogs, workshops, books, magazine articles, stories, and movies all depicting qualities of fatherhood.
However, to a large extent your personal history shapes you as a father and in many ways this will be your best guide.
Fathers and their beliefs
The philosophies that you believe are important in the way you live and work determine your priorities. They are the measures that determine if your life is turning out the way you want it to.
Your life experience, expectations, emotional intelligence, communication skills and behaviours make you the unique person and dad you are.
Your kids become the beneficiaries!
For better or worse!
Where did you come from and how did you get here?
Many of your personal values and characteristics will have originated from your upbringing.
You will have been influenced by your father, mother or other guiding adult mentors in life including relatives, teachers, authors, or friends.
For many men memories of their own father evokes thoughts of an emotionally absent, distracted if not physically distant man.
For others they remember their father as actively engaged physically and emotionally.
You may remember something in between, or indeed you may have lost or never known your father.
Who influenced you?
Here’s a task!
Spend a few moments reflecting on the helpful and unhelpful aspects of your own father, or father figure/mentor, that has influenced you.
Here are some examples of men’s memories of their father and his characteristics, values and behaviours.
Do any of these resonate with you?
Do you do things the same or differently from your own father?
Please add your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you are interested to learn more about your parenting style, check out our sister site below>
