Being a Dad is Awesome – #HowToDad

I came across this great commercial.  I can’t really describe how awesome it is; watch it down below.  In our world that is so degrading and emasculating to men, and likes to poke fun at the “stupid man”, and the “incapable father”, and so on, this video kills it.  Really awesome.

Watch it and then read below for my thoughts:

I’m not really sure where to begin.  This commercial really is great, and has so many good things in it.  I’ll start from the top, and will hit the big points:

• Kid jumps on Dad – Dad doesn’t freak out, throw him off, or yell at him.  He takes it as it comes, and shows the kid the attention he both deserves, and desires.  He then “rough-houses” with the kid by throwing him over onto, and off of, the other side of the bed.  No one had to call the cops, the kid was fine.
• “My name is “DAD!”, and proud of it!” – yes!  So thankful that he’s proud of this ever-so-important title.  To kids, Dad is everything.  So Dads… be everything to them!
• Dad then goes through a slew of reasons why kids think Dads are awesome.  Notice that “being high strung” and “overly critical” aren’t listed.
• “We lead by example.”  yes, yes, and yes!  I’ve written about this many times.  Search Fatherhood, or look in the blog roll under Fatherhood for more.
• “Hot stuff comin’ through; the coffee and the wife.”  A man who loves his wife like crazy (and thinks that she’s “hot stuff”) sets the best example his kids could ever have.  For the boys, it teaches them how to love their future spouse, and for the girls, it teaches them how they ought to be treated by their future spouse.  Great stuff!
• This Dad is highly positive.  This is so important in the lives of our kids.  There are plenty of statistics out there, but most of them will say something to the effect of… kids need to hear 10 positive comments to outweigh 1 negative comment.  Dads – get to being positive, affirming, and encouraging to your kids!
• “Now, Dadhood isn’t always easy.”  No kidding!  Kids need clear expectations and clear consequences.  Hold them to both and they’ll grow to be wonderful adults. Being true to that is difficult, but really rewarding.

I’ve now watched this video about 20 times in the past day.  Every time I watch it, I pick up something else.  Watch it more than once, share it with your spouse, your kids, and then take some time to sit down and talk about how you’re doing as a dad.  Are you the “awesome Dad” that’s talked about in this video?  Have you said “yes to dressup”, and “made a great fort” lately?  Have you loved your wife, been positive to your kids, and enforced discipline and responsibility?  Now that’s #howtodad!  [Be sure to check out the other How to Dad videos, they’re about 00:16 seconds each.]

Being a great Dad doesn’t take just one thing, it doesn’t require just one characteristic, and it doesn’t happen over night.  We have to work at it, pick ourselves up when we fall down, apologize to our kids (with heartfelt sentiments) when we mess up, and never forget how important our role as Dad is.  Keep it up, they deserve nothing but your best!

TrueMan up!

7 Days of Manly Superbowl Stuff – Day 2 (Troy Polamalu Day)

T-Minus 6 Days and counting until Superbowl 43…

Many of you are familiar with the star of the top-ranked Steeler defense, #43 Troy Polamalu (pronounced: poh lah mah loo).  You’re probably familiar with him because of his tenacity, aggressiveness, number of sacks and interceptions, and especially because of his long, curly, black, Polynesian hair.  (Not familiar with Troy? Click HERE.)  You might not be familiar with him because of another reason… his Catholic faith.  Polamalu is a devote Catholic, a genuine family man and a humble servant – off the field.  This picture of him seemingly contrasts his playing style – on the field.  Troy disagrees.  He believes that his passion (for football) on the field is directly related to his passion (for Christ) off the field.  He was quoted in the Pittsburgh Catholic saying “Football gives me confirmation of how I can carry out my faith.  It’s my way to glorify God.”  He also recently started a philanthropic foundation that benefits our service men and women!

His teammates have some things to say about him, too.  “Knowing Troy and how he carries himself, he brings light to the team,” said offensive lineman Alan Faneca. “Everybody respects that.” “He’s definitely one of those guys who lead by example,” said quarterback Charlie Batch. “He’s not a talker when he gets out there, but you see the work he does on the field and produces every Sunday. When you put that combination together, yeah, he’s one of those guys that you’re going to follow … and he doesn’t take for granted that he’s blessed with incredible speed and instinct.”

Leading by example… that’s TRUE MANHOOD.  Way to go Troy!

Check out the full story from the Pittsburgh Catholic HERE.