Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This large community is part of the great site dad-blogs. If you haven’t already, stop by and check it out.
This week you get to meet the youngest of my four children, Anah.
Anah
Anah “Banana” is the youngest of the four children in the Coupon Dad clan (We’ll get to the “banana” explanation in a second). Anah turned seven years old in April and just (today actually) finished the first grade.
Ok, to the “banana” thing….. you see, like 99% of the girls out there my little one idolizes Hannah Montana. So she has come up with her rhyming “stage name” for when she becomes a star just like Hannah Montana (just makes you smile doesn’t it). My little Anah also loves clothes, jewelry, shoes, accessories and can’t wait until she can wear make up. Oh, I forgot to mention……were not talking about your Wal-Mart or Target type stuff here. I completely blame my wife for this, because Anah has an eye for the finer things (not that she has any yet). I get constantly bombarded with…..”Daddy when can I have a Coach purse?”….or…”I love you daddy, will you take me Macy’s”.
I feel sorry for her husband……..heck, she takes after my wife, so I feel sorry for me. Of course they both will tell you it is my fault that they are that way (and they are probably right).
So as you can imagine Anah’s birthday lists are quite comical. Actually for the past two years they have been rather short. There is the usual books, game boy games or Hannah Montana items on the list….but, this list is not for dad. Oh no, that is for relatives and friends. Dad’s list has only consisted of one thing.
1) To go shopping with Dad’s credit card.
Oh, her husband is screwed……….
So for the past two years Anah, Mom and Dad have gone to the mall for her birthday to see how fast we can wear out the little strip on Dad’s card. Of course she has a pre-set limit though…..and of course she always sweet talks Dad into increasing that limit as the day goes on. What can I say, I’m a sucker for cute smiles and batting eyelashes.
Fatherhood
Growing up in a frugal minded household my children are being taught and coached about finances. They all know it takes hard work, a good education, making smart financial decisions and to not always have your hand out if you want to live a comfortable life. They are taught about not being wasteful and always being thankful for what they have.
With that being said I also think that you occasionally have to let your children experience some of the finer things in life (I said occasionally now….I am still Coupon Dad after all). Reason I say this, I believe that you have to be rewarded for your hard work or you will lose motivation and won’t strive to succeed in life.
Tagged as: Dads, Fatherhood Friday, Parenting
Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This large community is part of the great site dad-blogs. If you haven’t already, stop by and check it out.
This week I’m going to introduce you to my little reader Amber and the third oldest.
Amber
Amber is the third of my four children, she is nine years old and is in the 3rd grade. As you probably guessed by the title, Amber loves to read (loves might be a understatement……no, no it is definitely an understatement ). Now all of my children are big readers but Amber takes the cake (more on this later). Amber also has dad wrapped around her little finger (as does Anah, who you’ll meet next week). Of course this you may also have guessed by the picture above.
Now, why I say it is an understatement to imply Amber just loves to read. I guess one of the best examples I can give is to tell you about the note cry for help her librarian sent to all the school’s teachers. You see Amber had read all the books in the library at the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade level and the librarian had nothing left for her to read. So the cry for help was for all the teachers to break into their own personal stashes at home and bring in some books. So far this has worked, but I’m curious what ideas they come up with for the next two years Amber is at the school!
Amber’s love for reading has made her a very bright and quick witted little girl. This love for reading I’m proud to say, is something she picked up from her father. Unfortunately (depending on who you ask), she also managed to get the “smarty pants” gene from her father as well. Add this to that quick wit and what I refer to as the “wisenheimers” fly left and right…..and somehow usually at my expense. This my wife thinks is absolutely hilarious……and I have to admit usually makes me crack a smile as well.
Fatherhood
This week I thought I would touch on what I feel is the importance of a father in their daughters lives. These are my observations and opinions.
First, your daughter is learning about relationships and how they should expect to be treated by watching you and your spouse. If you treat your spouse with:
* Respect
* As an equal
* Cherish and love them
…then the chances your daughter will end up in a good relationship are strong. If you argue, bicker, are distant or abusive towards your spouse then the odds increase your daughter will end up in a similar relationship.
Second, all girls need love and encouragement from a positive male role model in their life. If they don’t get this at home, than they will go searching for it in other places, like their boyfriend, which could lead to an undesired outcomes.
Tell them that you love them, that you are proud of them and take an interest in their lives. It will go a long way in them learning to respect themselves, building their confidence and self esteem.
What are your thought on a dads role in his daughter(s) life?
Thanks
Tagged as: Dads, Fatherhood Friday, Parenting
Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This large community is part of the great site dad-blogs. If you haven’t already, stop by and check it out.
This week I’m going to introduce you to my son and the second oldest.
Ethan
Ethan is the second of my four children and the only boy. In case you missed it in an earlier post, my son and I are outnumbered BIG time. That would be 2M to 7F (including 3 female dogs)…..yikes!
Ethan is 10 years old, is in the 5th grade and is the self proclaimed comedian of the family. Yep he is the prankster….I mean “funny man” of the group. He is the very proud owner of:
One whoopee cushion
Multiple cans of Flarp (though he seldom needs an artificial producer for that sound)
One handshake buzzer
Owner of Lee Wardlaw’s book “101 Ways to Bug Your Parents” (another “funny” man)
Many fake bugs, snakes and piles of other plastic, made to look real things (yea…use your imagination here)
…and the list goes on and on.
He is also the first one to the comics section everyday in the newspaper and has read almost every joke book known to man. So basically he is the typical 10 year old boy who loves to drive his sisters and parents batty.
With all that said……..he can also be the sweetest, most caring and helpful child you could ever ask for.
Let me set this up for you…….first you have to know that at the moment my wonderful wife is out of commission. She had a little accident walking up some wet, metal steps to get on a plane and tore a tendon and muscle in her hips as well as damaged some cartilage. She never can do anything half-assed you know……..well, I guess in this case everything is sorta kept to one cheek! But I digress. So she is on crutches and has to stay off her feet as much as possible. Ok, second fact you need to know is Dad (that’s me) is severely allergic to grass (like a 9 on a scale of 10) and hasn’t been able to mow the lawn in years. That means, you guessed it, Mom was in charge of this chore. Ahhhhhh……starting to see our pickle, jam, conundrum, issue, challenge, opportunity….(ok, I’ll stop).
By now I’m guessing you see where this is heading…….but I’m going to tell you anyway. So on Tuesday when he got home from school my son took it upon himself to fire up the old mower and tackle the lawn. Now picture a large Craftsman mower that weighs as much as he does. Then picture that sweet, innocent boy (picture up top) trying to steer this thing around corners, up and down hills, all the while trying to avoid the bushes and shrubs. It was quite comical…..but a commendable effort and performance. The real story to me here though is the fact that he saw mom needed help and took it upon himself to supply that need.
Fatherhood
It’s often these little things that my son does that make me proud I am his father. It reinforces that maybe I am leading him in the right direction as he grows into the man he will become.
Something I picked up from my father as a kid is when teaching your children, you have to lead by example. That goes for everything, whether it be picking up after yourself, personal hygiene, or taking pride in your work. Kids pick up on these things more than you know.
In my opinion, some of the most important lessons I can teach my son (by example) and in no particular order are:
* Respect – for your wife, the elderly, your parents, yourself and for all people in general.
* Responsibility – owning the decisions you make whether good or bad.
* Faith – to lead your family in faith (this one, I’ll admit I need to work on)
These are just a few, of the many important lessons as fathers we need to teach our sons.
What other lessons do you teach your son with leading by example? What would you add to the list I started?
Tagged as: Dads, Fatherhood Friday, Parenting
Fatherhood Friday
Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This large community is part of the great site dad-blogs. If you haven’t already, stop by and check it out.
This is week eleven of the Fatherhood Friday over at dad-blogs. I have been a fan since week one. This however is the first week I have been able to join them with a post of my own!
So for my first week I thought I would share a little about my oldest daughter Destiny.
Destiny
Time goes by fast and before you know they are all grown up, I’m sure you all can relate. It is hard for me to believe but Destiny turned fourteen in January of this year. It seemed just like yesterday that I was sitting on the couch with my little girl watching Toy Story with her Jessie doll in tow.
Fast forward and now the conversations are about hair straighteners, make up, cell phones and “when can I have my own laptop dad?” It won’t be long and we’ll be sitting down “discussing” where she will be attending college. Knowing her, she will have a compelling well thought out plan to convince me the best option would be college in China or Japan. Meanwhile, I’ll have all my ammo together on why she will be right down the road at University of Texas – San Antonio. (That way I can keep an eye on her……at least that’s what I’ll tell myself. Though really it will be because I will have a hard time letting her go).
See one of Destiny’s passions in life is the Asian culture and language. She has even committed herself to three years of Mandarin Chinese starting next year in high school!
Fatherhood
One thing I constantly am asking myself is if I’m succeeding as a father. Am I giving my children all the tools they need to make good decisions and be a productive member of society? Do I show my children enough that I love them?
Just when I’m starting to worry, I usually get a little “nod” or “sign” that shows me I must be on the right track.
Recently I received (what I felt was) a “nod of approval” from Destiny. About a week ago while at work I got a text message from her. I read the text and it was one of those “chain mail” types that you often see these days. Naturally as a father, my first reaction was “what is she doing…..that just ate up a ton of our available text messages for the month.” You see being the “frugal father” I am…..I have yet to succumb to purchase unlimited “text”ing for our family cell phone plan. After my initial reaction, I stopped and read the text again and that’s when it hit me. Yes it was a chain text, but it wasn’t one that was supposed to go to the whole world. It said to send only to the ten people you care the most about and by doing so you will bring them good fortune.
Did you see it? The “ten people you care the most about”……..
Now it may seem small or trivial to some……..but it made my day.
Tagged as: Fatherhood Friday, Parenting
