For those of you who know us, it should come as no surprise that we are expecting...again! For those of you who don't, I am beginning to lose the ability to count my kids on my left hand. (No, I don't have plans to add another hand.) But, as I have become a parent and grown in this capacity over the past 8 years, I have come to realize that there is probably no other event in my life that has had such monumental effects in my life. Yes, getting married was one of the most important decisions I made, but the lifestyle changes brought about by having kids tend to be more profound.
Like all dads and dads-to-be, I have fluctuated between feeling confident to feeling completely overwhelmed and lost. Fortunately, with a healthy amount of love, kids are fairly forgiving. With a reasonable dose of humility and a a generous dose of engagement, they seem do do pretty well - at least so far! But there is always room for learning and growth.
Marriage and parenting are probably the 2 most important relationships what we will have on this earth. Like a good project they need planning, careful execution, and profound attention to detail. And to bend the metaphor further, like a garden, both need daily attention with watering and weeding in order to produce a crop. While the idea of pouring water on plants and pulling weeds seems simple, there is a lot that can be learned through careful research and practice in the field of horticulture. The same is true with marriage and parenting. To be effective we need to read good resources and look to good examples.
In previous posts, I have introduced the idea of the hero archetype - that is someone that we can look to who has overcome some obstacle to achieve a specific goal. Whether the hero is characterized as a larger-than-life figure with super powers doing super things or an everyman with whom we can easily identify, having examples that we can look to as we face the challenges and obstacles in our lives can be helpful. As parents, we are this person to our kids. And in marriage and parenting, looking to people who do it well can illuminate the path and provide encouragement along the way.
I recently ran across the YouTube channel, Dude Dad. This is a channel dedicated to promoting family life in the most epic way possible. Thanks to their witty approach to parenting and YouTube's play next feature, I have spent an incalculable amount of time binge watching Taylor and Heidi Calmus live out their marriage and parenting, albeit in 15-minute segments. One of the things that I have appreciated about Taylor is the fact that he normalizes the idea of a stable marriage, having lots of kids, and making that your priority.
So Taylor, if you ever read this, thanks for promoting healthy family life - for making marriage and parenting fun. Thank you for inspiring me to continue to excel in my own relationship with my wife and my kids!
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