The Fatherhood Trifecta

A recurring topic among us in the “dad blogger community” is our general lack of community.

Unlike the many, many moms of the blogosphere, we generally lack “tribes” and “support groups” and other generalized labels to put in “quotation marks.” We rarely rally together, quickly or intimately, for better or worse, in real life or the digital one, like our feminine counterparts in this parenting gig.

Some say it’s society. Some say it’s genetics. Being guys, most of us just say, “Whatever.”

David of It’s Not a Lecture wants to change that. He’s attempting to get at least one father in each of the 50 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico because he’s the inclusive type) to write “a simple blog post” that describes three things they love about being a father under the Twitter/blog banner of #DadsLove.

The first post, which he wrote, went up Wednesday, and I have this to say: simple, my paper-thonged butt. Check out David’s little slices o’ wisdom.

So, fellow parenting dudes (and dudettes without whom we wouldn’t be here), I’m here to represent the little utility infielder of the Northeast – Connecticut.

Here goes:

1. Unveiling my past. Whether introducing them to the games of my youth, showing them the corners of my hometown or, as I’ve been doing with Excitable of late, plying them with some of the books that I loved at their age, it’s more than nostalgia. It’s letting your kids peer inside to how you became who you are.

2. Joyful noise. Listening from behind a closed door as my daughter belts out some sap from Taylor Swift or crap from Katy Perry or clap-trap from the hot boy singer of the week like her life depending on it. Hearing my son’s infectious cackle, whether me or someone else got it going. Wondering what led to the happy screeching, rare as it is these days, of the two of them goofing around and getting along together, and wondering further about how I can bottle it for a time when I’ll really need it.

3. Being needed. Yes, I complain about them always coming to me to fix iPods and computers and remote controls, and I have threatened to throw all the technology in the house out on more than one occasion because I’m sick of being their Mr. Fix It. But Li’l Diva will also ask me to show her how to make pancakes or chicken parmigiana or Excitable will ask if I’ll chaperone his class field trip or if he can sleep in my room when My Love travels out of town. That’s when I know I’ve made it.

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