{"id":1832,"date":"2020-08-31T12:37:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T04:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.familyfirstglobal.org\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2021-11-14T16:37:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T16:37:02","slug":"raising-our-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/fatherhood\/raising-our-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Raising Our Kids: 3 Things We Must Do As Fathers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raising Our Kids: 3 Things We Must Do As Fathers<\/h1><\/div>
By Professor Gregory Slayton<\/div><\/div>

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Published On: August 31, 2020<\/div><\/div>

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Categories:<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
By FamilyFirstGlobal<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Published On: August 31, 2020<\/div><\/div>
Categories:<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Sons naturally look to their dads to discover what it is to be a man. To be a husband. To be the leader of a family. To be a success. All sons look for their father\u2019s approval, for his \u201cWell done son.\u201d In fact, that is how a boy becomes a man.<\/p>\n

But it is also true that daughters naturally look to their dads to know what a good man is. What a good husband is. What kind of man she wants to marry.<\/p>\n

Fathers: we need to be the men we want our boys to become. We must be the men we want our daughters to marry. Sure, we will make mistakes; we are human. But our mistakes do not define us. Our will to be good fathers \u2013 our decision to make fatherhood a priority and to be the best dads we can be \u2013 that is what defines us.<\/p>\n

So here are three things we can do starting today to be the best Fathers we can be:<\/p>\n

1. Love your children\u2019s Mom<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yes, the two most important people in any child\u2019s life are Mom and Dad. If they care for each other, if they take good care of each other, if they can settle their difference and move forward together \u2013 their children feel safe and secure. Parents are like the roof over their kids\u2019 heads. No matter how bad the storm outside \u2013 if the marriage roof is strong \u2013 the kids are safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Men, this starts with us. We want our wife to love our kids, right? So we must love her and sacrifice for her. Show her that she is specially loved\u2026so she can give special love to our kids.<\/p>\n

Be sure to learn her \u201clove language.\u201d Each woman is different. Each woman has her own love language. Learn the love language of your wife\u2026and show her that love. That is Job #1 of any husband.<\/p>\n

2. Show your kids how much we love them<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And all children spell LOVE the same way: T-I-M-E. That\u2019s right, our kids need us to spend time with them. Not just once a month or once a week, but every day. Sure, we cannot spend 6 or 8 hours at home each day. We must work. We must support our families financially. But we also must support our children emotionally. Play with them. Help them with their homework. Take them out for a nice meal, teach them how to play baseball, or any fun family time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fathers: try to spend at least 30 minutes with your kids every day. No cell phone, no TV, no distractions. Just you and them. Playing games, running around, listening to why they are sad, sharing with them about your day, just being together. 30minutes out of 24 hours isn\u2019t too much. Yes, it might mean getting home from work a bit earlier. Or not spending so much time with your buddies.\u00a0But I promise you this: if you do this, spending at least 30 minutes a day with your children while they are still with you, it will be the best investment you ever make.\u00a0Remember, your kids are only with you for a short time. Every single day is a blessed gift. We must make the most of it.<\/p>\n

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3. Start this week<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You may know I am a Professor at Peking University and some of America\u2019s best universities. And professors give homework. So here is some homework for every good Dad out there. There is no time to get started like today. So let\u2019s get to it!!<\/p>\n

This week get each of your kids alone \u2013 just you and your son or daughter. And then do\u00a0three important things<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Give him or her an age appropriate hug<\/strong>. Yes, our kids need our physical support. I know this is not the Chinese way (remember, I was raised in a Chinese family, too). But it is still important. We do not want our daughters (or our sons) going outside to find the physical support they need. Let\u2019s be sure they feel our love \u2013 a quick hug or a warm handshake or a good-natured jostling of their hair \u2013 that is one thing our kids need from us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nTell them how much you love them and how proud you are of them.<\/strong> Yes, tell them. Don\u2019t worry \u2013 they will not get a big head. But when they hear from their Dad, \u201cI love you and I am so proud of you\u201d they will feel 10 feet tall. You want your son and daughter to be strong, to be self-confident, to be happy with who they are? Of course, you do. So tell them. They may pretend to be embarrassed at first, but trust me, they will love it inside.<\/span><\/div>\n
Let them know that no matter what happens, you will be with them forever.<\/strong>\u00a0Let them know that your love is not conditional. Forever. That is bedrock for our kids\u2019 lives; an emotional steel for their souls. That is what all children need: to know that they are loved no matter what.<\/div>\n
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Second important homework:
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Dads, I encourage you to do the same thing with your wife. Take her out to a really nice restaurant, one she loves. Tell her how much you love her. Tell her how much you appreciate all she does for you and the kids. Let her know that you will never leave her. Yes, let her know. She will love you all the more for it.<\/p>\n

Guys, let\u2019s be sure to do these things on a regular basis. Our kids need to know that we love them every single day. And so do our wives. So let\u2019s get on that homework\u2026and let\u2019s keep doing it every single week.\u00a0I promise you this: if you do it \u2013 and keep it up \u2013 it will change your life and that of your family for the much better.\u00a0Try it. You will see. For as the Bible tells us \u201cLove Never Fails.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that my friend\u2026is true. Just like a faithful father: Love may slip up from time to time, but in the end it never fails.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sons naturally look to their dads to discover what it is to be a man. To be a husband. To be the leader of a family. To be a success. All sons look for their father\u2019s approval, for his \u201cWell done son.\u201d In fact, that is how a boy becomes a man. But it is also true that daughters naturally look to their dads to know what a good man is. What a good husband is. What kind of man she wants to marry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[21,22],"class_list":["post-1832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fatherhood","tag-beabetterdad","tag-fatherhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfirstglobal.org\/extra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}