What Nat noticed!

Nat and I love to go play in the pool. My aunt has one and she lives right next door. There's not alot we can do right now because Nat can't get her ears wet because of tubes put in her ears. Often times we will take this tiem to discuss important things and I will try to give Nat information that I think will be important to her later as she grows up. Sometimes Nat will talk about things bothering her or questions she has or just share some of her feelings. She said that her best friend often feels unloved by her parents and she could see why. I asked her why and she said "Well it's like when I am over there visiting her parents stay in their room and watch tv or they get on the computer. (Incidentally Nat is not home right now that is why I am on the computer) She said they only come around when it is is time to eat and then they just fix us a sandwich or something easy like chips and cookies from a bag. I said well isn't that what happens at Ma's too (Teresa now lives with her parents). She said yes and there's no love in throwing together a sandwich. It's like Mary (my aunt that lives next door with the pool) She microwaves everything to get it done quick, but you Daddy you cook everything the hard way from scratch like mashed potatoes and pancakes and two hour made in the stove baked potatoes. So they taste like love.
I knew I did those things because I wanted to do my very best for my child so that when she is grown I would have no regrets, but I never thought ti would make er feel special or more loved than other children or that she would realize it at such a young age!
Always Always Always do your best for your children. They will feel the love come through or the lack thereof. Nat's friend is starting to resent her parents and feel unloved where do you think that will lead? No where you want to go with your kids right?!?

Important Lesson A Must Read!!!

There is no greaster bond than that of a parent and a child!!!

Important Lesson A Must Read!!!!!!

Natalie and I are having a blast!!! I am on the computer today because Natalie isn't home. She wants my undivided attention and I want her to have it. We have been to a Reds game, the movies, cayaking in an inflatable raft! and laughed till we nearly pee our pants!! We have stayed up late and slept till 2 in the afternoon and we have enjoyed what Nat calls the big suppers! She is my focus and even though I am not always hers I realize that is the way it is supposed to be. I heard something in a movie once when I was a child and I wished my mother believed that way and I decided I would. I want to share it with you now. There was this woman who went through a divorce and had started to date and this was causing her son a lot of pain. A very wise lady spoke to her about her son's happiness and she replied what about my happiness. The wise lady told her now listen close

Your happiness can never be as important to you as his until he grows to become a man


And that's the truth people your kids come before you so what you do is you let your happiness come from seeing them happy. Enjoy them put them first, they will be such wonderful kids never causing you problems and they will excel in what they do giving you great pride!!! You will have plenty of time for foolishness when they are grown, put everything you have in your kids!! They are the ones who will be there for you when you are on your death bed!

Natty's coming home!

Natalie comes home for 5 weeks in the summer and we always have a great time and both of us change greatly in those 5 weeks! I wonder what this year hold for us?

Don't let this be you!

Do you need a SuperNanny?

Have you seen this show Super Nanny? It is absolutely crazy! The parents on these shows if you'll notice all have a very common characteristic. They are totally oblivious to the job of parenting. Now I know folks believe me I know that parenting can be a confusing job,but here is something every parent should know with out being told! But just in case here goes "You got to mean what you say" sound simple enough right? The good news is that it is simple very simple yet so many parents today have no idea of it's importance. I have seen parents tell a child to stop doing something 15 or 20 times and when the child doesn't stop finally when they finally have become so flustered they decide to actually focus on the child, then they blow up and yell and scream and perhaps even hit the child. When if they had told the child once and then dealt appropriately with it then they could've saved them and the child a whole lot of grief anxiety, frustration and hurt feelings. When feelings get hurt between you and your child sometimes that forms a gap that no bridge will ever cover, remembe every second counts, put your focus on your child!

Try This!

I heard an amazing statistic a few years ago, about Jewish people and jail. Did you know that the percentage of Jewish men in jail is extremely low less than 1 percent! I believe the reason for this is because in the Jewish culture father's give their children blessings. No not permission to get married or anything. Actual blessings that they pray over their children. I believe there is huge power in prayer and what better object for prayer than our children.Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue" Words carry a great deal of weight and we need to realize this!Pray over and for your children every day.Natalie will even ask ro make sure I don't forget at night. I can tell it makes her feel safe and loved and it gives her greater faith in her own life that God is walking with her. All I can say is Try This I know you will never regret it!

Natalies and Daddies Song

This song has always been just perfect for me and Nat and describes what I promised her on the night before my marriage ended.

Realize this!

The children in our lives will all too soon be grown and gone and then we will be longing for all these little things they do now that keep us on our toes. So cherish every minute and realize just how precious every second you have with your children is... before it's too late!

Sleeping Beauty!

She will kill me when she sees this on here. I just love to look at her so one night as I watched her sleep, I grabbed the camera to remember her with her hair all messed up. As you can see my baby is a Wildcat fan. I wanted to do her room in pink or purple, but she said "No Daddy, Kentucky blue"! So Kentucky Blue it is!

Are you above or below average?

I recently heard on the news something I could scarce believe. The recession ha caused more dads who I guess aren't working to spend more time with their kids. Now when I first heard this I was very happy about this, but when I heard the number I was in shock! The average father spends 7 to 10 hours a week with their child! And that is an increase! One hour a day and that's it (on average) Mom's do slightly better with 16 to 21 hours spent weekly with their children. Now I am a divorced dad I only get my daughter every other weekend, but during that time we are never apart except to go to the restroom and sometimes then she stands outside the door so we can carry our conversation on. I felt good knowing that my time I spent with my daughter was more than even dads who have the good fortune to actually live with their children, but I was saddened to think of the children out there who aren't getting the attention they need and deserve. So are you above average or below average? Spending time with your kids is life's greatest gift, invest yourself in them and then when they get older you will see your efforts were not in vain!

Do your kids feel close to you?

As Natalie and I sat in church yesterday I noticed something I have been so proud of. Natalie will automatically sit close to me and even put her head on my shoulder from time to time. She automatically grabs my hand when we are about to walk down a parking lot or a street. She will give me hugs out of the blue and shugies(kisses).She writes me little letters and draws me pictures.She tells me she loves me and when I say to her I love you the mostess hostess she repeats it back to me. Now I know that all this may sound weird to you, but I am so thankful for it and I wouldn't have it any other way. You see Natalie feels close to her old dad, and she knows that Daddy loves her know matter what, so there's no reason to try to hide hr true self from me, theirs no frustration or anger on her part to cause her to act out. And most importantly she wants to please me because she knows I am already proud of her. Can you say this about your kids? If not you can begin today, just put them first and see what happens!

New Posts

I have been at work since Wednesday and I am dead. I am going to bed till time to get Natty, this is my weekend so I will post on Monday this is our time.

Be respectable

I once heard someone say if we could only be the people we want our children to be. Isn't that true. Be respectable in front of your child. Children model behavior, if they see you act in a loud unruly fashion they will do the same. However if you have manners, decorum and show compassion for others they will do that as well. Don't curse and yell and be obnoxious in front of your child and then pray they don't turn out that way. My mother once cursed in front of my baby when she was three and Natty in he innocence repeated it and it was like someone had run a knife through my heart to hear my baby soil her mouth with a curse word. My mother seemed shocked when Natalie did this and I wanted to choke her but I couldn't in front of Natty.My mother is gone now, but her sister curses in front of Natalie and because of it Natalie has no respect for her. Always be a person the child can be proud of, a person above reproach, full of integrity and honor and your child will strive to be just such a person I mean after all that is the kind of person you want them to be right?

Show and tell

Remember back in school when they would have show and tell? Actually in my school we never had show and tell, but I heard about it on TV shows, anyhow I think as Daddies we must do both, Show and Tell our children how much we love them, how much of a blessing they are to us, how wonderful they are and how proud we are of them. We must do this everyday! It is so important these babies know this from their dads (and their moms) You see I firmly believe one of the major reasons kids get into trouble it is to get our attention for one, to see if we do truly care for them number two, and because they have low self esteem for three. Don't let your child be the one who gets on drugs or alcohol, gets pregnant, or runs with the wrong crowd all because they are looking for love in all the wrong places. Show and Tell them you love them every day. Half won't do it must be both Show.... and....Tell!

New Blog

My new weight loss blog as well as several new posts on all current sites will be done this weekend. Happy Easter!

Don't be crazy lazy!

All right dads I know you work hard and you are tired, but come on now don't slack off from your most important job! Your family needs you much more than the place you work at does and I GUARANTEE they appreciate you more than your employer does. Don't give everything you have at work and leave nothing for your family.I don't know how many times in public I have watched while a mother tries to control little Johnny or Sally who are out of control while Dad just stands there and never says a word. The frustration on the wife's face is apparent and you know she is going to take it out on him in some fashion later. Wake up Fathers and take control of your children and be the Dad God has called you to be. I GUARANTEE not only will your children respect and appreciate you more but so will your wife!

Introduction

Silly me forgot to start this blog with an introduction. So what qualifies me to write a blog for Fathers? Well my own father abandoned me and my mother blamed me for it and I guess hated me if I were to be completely honest about this. Now I am a father myself and it is the greatest gift God has ever given me in my entire life. My daughter is now 10 years old! She is a honor student with reading levels of a sophomore in High School, she is on an 9th grade math level and is in the top 10 percent of students nationwide. Now just as importantly Natalies and mine relationship is so great! We have never in her life had an argument! We have had of course disagreements, but we have much too much respect for one another to raise our voice to one another. I know I could have Natalie to sit down somewhere and she would sit there forever if I didn't tell her it was o.k. to move. Now why is this you ask? I firmly believe the reason for this is because Natalie knows if I ask her to sit down somewhere it is for her own good, it is not because I am tired of fooling with her or want to do something on my own. Natalie knows that I put her first in everything and she appreciates that and respects me for it. Natalie is the only child in her school from a broken home that is on the academic team. Of course this blog is also an oppurtunity for me to brag on natty (my nickname for her). Did I mention that she is an advanced student group with Duke University! My point is I am proud of her and my child knows it, let your kids know your proud of them too no matter what!

You love your child....right?

I know that it is just assumed that everyone loves their child, but I am not so sure that if you ask the kids themselves they would be able to say yes. So many fathers are cold and distant with their kids and especially if they are divorced. So many parents don't show their kids the amount of love the children crave, that leaves the child frustrated and angry and causes resentment in the child. This causes behaviors in the child. Now let's be honest when the child acts up and causes the parent more stress then this in turn strains the parents feelings toward the child, and so goes the vicious cycle.
When your child knows they are cherished and adored they are much more peaceful and compliant and then you as the parent can enjoy them more and more and then the love can grow and that can be a wonderful cycle.
Don't just tell your child you love them show them every day don't let a hour go by that you don't tell them, they do need to hear it from you, but just as importantly they need to see and feel it from you!!

What this is all about!

This Blog is about parenting and I honestly I have been hard pressed to come up with a beginning to this blog because I take this very seriously. As a father I view my relationship with my daughter as the most important one in my life other than my relationship with God. I pray this blog will be helpful to you and will raise your conscienceness about your own parent/child relationship and will bring you and your child closer together. Let me warn you though, you may find this blog extreme!

Still under construction

Hopefully tomorrow I will have my first couple of posts ready.

Oh my Goodness

I guess with a name like Diamond Daddies I shouldn't be surprised that an ad for Date A Gay Millionaire pops up, but still I nearly peed my pants when I saw it. (now watch us get an ad for depends). My daughter thought up the name and it is supposed to mean like be a gem of a Dad not will some rich gay man buy me jewelry, my goodness is the world we live in?

Still under construction

I should have this up and running by this weekend please tune back in!