21 Jun What makes a good father?

What makes a good father?

Since this Sunday was Father’s day I figured I’d write about this subject.
We all know anyone can be a sperm donor, getting a woman pregnant and then walking away without a care about her or that child he made. Unfortunately these days we see too many of these kinds of men.

But we don’t recognize or acknowledge the good men who stick around. Who stand up and take responsibility for their children. I know many wonderful single dads out there holding it down all by themselves. I watched my best friend growing up raised by her dad and uncle and back then you hardly saw a single dad.

So what makes a good dad?
Hopefully they step up and pay child support, that’s a great start. According to Well Family, among the 6.8 million custodial single parents who were awarded child support in 2015, only 43.5% received all of the child support money that was due (similar to the 43.4% seen in 2011)

25.8% of custodial parents received some of the money that was due

30.7% received none of the child support money due

But there is so much more than monetary value here, it’s time, it’s patience, it’s teaching your child how to be a good person. How to be a man or showing your daughter’s how a good man should treat them. And what I’ve learned is that even if you do all that, even if you pay support, you show up to all their events, you spend time with them that still doesn’t constitute being a good dad.

I was told a good dad is not putting your child down, not calling them names, not favoring one child child over another, not beating them when they asked a question and they didn’t provide the right response you wanted.
Yes, all that is taken into consideration when speaking about having a good dad.

For many people, they had no dad or a shitty dad and sometimes you don’t know which is worse. But there are some great dads out there, some even doing it all themselves. I appreciate and applaud them because they are showing other men how to grow up, how to be a real man.

So today my friends, remember there are many moving pieces about being a good dad just like there are in being a good mom. We have to remember we are raising the next generation, we are teaching them how to treat others, we are the examples they are looking up to. We must get it right, so if you’re not ready to become a dad make sure you’re careful because this is a lifetime job and the last thing we need is another fatherless child. We need more good fathers out here.

“Be the change you want to see”
@TreadmillTreats