Every once in a while I feel like I do something right as a dad. It’s as if the stars simply align and I feel like I can do no wrong. But in reality there is very little lining up. The truth is that generally all of my best dad moments are categorized by one simple thing: PEACE.
Yes peace. What do I mean by that. Pretty simple. When I step into any situation with the family and regardless of what is going on if I can remain peaceful through the whole experience I generally have a great dad moment.
On a practical level here’s what that looked like this morning. I got up at 7am to make breakfast for my kids. The first things I heard today were both my daughter and youngest son groaning and complaining about being awake. And my daughter was doing the classic “Lay on the floor and say she couldn’t move” type of response. I’m not sure I handled it perfectly but I did step in and tell her that wasn’t ok and that she needed to get ready. Then I headed downstairs to make breakfast. As I walked downstairs I started thinking about peace and how I could help our morning. So that’s simply what I tried to do. I tried to make sure all my words from that point forward were peaceful and peace inducing in our family.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not perfect. I don’t always do well in this area. Even this morning I wasn’t perfect. But, sometimes 75% perfect is a good start. I can get frustrated when I make breakfast and the kids don’t like it or when my son complains about his vitamin drink and creates drama about why he can’t drink it down. But this is an area that I really want to work on and grow in.
As you know I generally write these Wednesday blogs as a chance for me to be transparent about some things I’m working on in my own life. This is probably an area that I fail in the most. But, I’m really wanting to grow. I hope as you read you will know that I’m convinced that all of us dads need to encourage and help each other to grow in these areas. None of us is perfect but all of us need to realize how much impact we have upon our families. How we respond, lead and act has huge implications on how our family might experience that day.
So here’s my challenge this week: Tonight and tomorrow spend a lot of time thinking about how you can be a Peace inducer in your family. Plan how you will respond to those situations that you already know will come up. Think about how your morning or evening routine needs to change in order for you to promote peace. Work hard to respond in a peaceful way to every and all situations with both your kids and your spouse.
