WTWN #92 - A Note on Fatherhood

Happy Father's Day, to those who celebrate.

It’s Father’s Day, or more accurately, Father’s Day in America. Not in Finland. We mark it in November.

The upside to this discrepancy is that we won’t have to fight for a reservation when we go out to dinner tonight.

Today, I came across a list in Esquire of famous men reflecting on what they’ve learned about fatherhood, as dads or sons, that I thought I’d share.

Link: What' I’ve Learned: About Fatherhood (from Esquire).

Perhaps the best bit came last: Michael Caine’s simple one rule of parenting: “Forgive everything.”

Fatherhood is hard.

Though Caine was thinking about unconditional love and forgiving your children, there’s another perspective. When you’re old enough, you can also forgive your parents, and it’s often one of the first steps towards being a real adult. Unless your father was truly cruel or abusive, chances are he was doing his best, just as you are now, if you are a father yourself. The father you remember from when you were young was trying to raise you while pursuing his own dreams, trying to keep a roof over everyone’s heads, and maintain his sanity.

Fatherhood changes everything—or it should.

My life changed when I first heard the heartbeat of my daughter on ultrasound, and I felt, for maybe the first time, that there’s a heart I hope will beat longer than mine.

In some ways, I had already grown up. But fatherhood was the next step.

Long-term relationships can act as a mirror, while fatherhood is one of life’s best teachers. Your children can inspire you to embrace your inner child, the one you may have forgotten or even rejected during your journey into adulthood.

Today, honor the fathers in your life, and take a moment to appreciate yourself if you are a dad.

To repurpose the 1987 Peace Corps slogan, fatherhood is perhaps “the toughest job you’ll ever love.”