Am I doing this right? It’s a question I have often pondered as a dad. And Father’s Day naturally prompts such reflection.
Am I doing this right? and the other side of that coin — What am I doing wrong? — have popped up plenty of times over my 17-plus years of fatherhood. The questions began almost immediately, as I struggled to install our newborn’s car seat, for instance. Am I doing this right? echoed in my head, as did white-hot rage at the makers of the sadistic car seat and some colorful words and expressions I had learned from my dad many years before. What am I doing wrong? has come up quite a bit in recent years, as our tween and two teens seem to believe being seen in public with their parents is tantamount to hanging out with the kid who wipes boogers on his pant leg.
I know I try to be a good dad. I know I love my kids more than my life. I know none of them are broken, and that’s victory in and of itself after nearly two decades in the dad business. Despite the challenges, being a father remains one of the smartest things I’ve done in a lifetime of questionable decisions (as the previous owner of a Michael Jackson “Thriller” jacket, the “Thompson Twins Greatest Hits,” and a Chevette, trust me on this one).
Two Champion Dads
Any success I’ve had in daddom is greatly attributable to a couple
