How I love my boy!

You question if you did enough. Then your son writes something like this.
And then you wonder, was it you who made him like this, or did he just bring these fine qualities with him when he came to earth?
And you still question if you did enough.


By Nathan Travis Boyce

The Jewish heritage is passed on through the mother. If your mother is Jewish, then you are Jewish. This is smart, as no one can deny that the baby was not born of that person.

Paternity has been questioned since the beginning of man. Women are lucky like that. However, when a man accepts a child into his life, whether he was there when the child was born or he is introduced to the child later, the man chooses how much of a role he will play in the child’s life.

It can be simply the realization when the child is born that the man is now a father, or it might be a more active choice later. There can be an instant attachment or an attachment that grows deeper over time, but when a man makes that choice he is now a dad. The world has a different meaning and the man has a different approach in life.

To be a dad means watching the baseball you just threw plow into your child’s face. The first time the ball hits him, you run over and comfort him. Maybe for that day the game of catch is over. The next time that ball hits him you still go over to them and comfort him, but catch that day does not end. Rub some dirt on it and keep at it, this maybe the most important lesson a man can pass on. It applies to all things in life.

The third time it happens you tell him to shake it off and catch goes on like it never happened. It means running behind your child, no matter how out of shape you are, when you take the training wheels off for the first time. in slow motion you watch him crash as you desperately try to reach him.

This happens a lot in life, and not just on bikes.

You stay awake at night wondering whether the punishment you meted out was too harsh for the offense, but you don’t take it back. You know the world does not wonder whether it is being too harsh for a poor decision that the child might some day make.

In your child’s eyes you are the biggest, meanest, nastiest thing that ever strode across the earth. You have to be, so that they will think twice before making mistakes they know are wrong when you are not around. The words “Just wait until your father gets home” ring loudly in most peoples ears. They have seen your wrath directed at them, and more importantly, directed at those that would harm them.

The best part about being the biggest, meanest and nastiest thing on the planet is those strong arms give amazing hugs. Those same arms that blistered a bottom red a few hours ago, will lift them up and carry them to their bed because they fell asleep in the car, or pretended to. There is never a fear of being dropped because dad is carrying them.

The benefit of being and doing all these things is that when that child you chose to raise goes out to face the world, you get to keep on worrying. No matter how well you taught your child, you know the world is now meaner, stronger and nastier than you ever were. You hope your child will rub some dirt on it and keep at it. In the end being a dad means no matter what evidence can be proved to the contrary, skin color, court decrees, DNA testing, no one can ever tell you that child is not yours.