Becoming a father was not foremost on my mind when I was growing up. Even the thought of beginning a relationship with a member of the opposite sex gave me so much stress, I avoided it. And yet I knew I probably would marry and have children, and I wanted certain things for them. I wasn’t much of a Scout, either, for a whole host of reasons, and so didn’t practice the Scout motto “Be Prepared.”
This has had some negative effects on my life, as I now see the value of being prepared and the benefits the Boy Scouts generally have for youth, specifically my sons, and especially on my life as a father. So how does a would-be or current father “Be Prepared?”
Well, I’ll use myself as an example, since I can only speak for myself. I needed to find a woman with whom I would be compatible long term. I would then need to decide on specific goals with her about what we would do and not do for and with our children. Because no family stays together enough to survive without some kind of moral compass, we decided on which faith to embrace, which would help and remind us to keep and extend beliefs that would strengthen us as a family and individuals.
Personally, I needed to make the decision that my wife and children would be a very high priority in my life. I needed to decide to be as healthy as I could be, so I could be there to communicate, interact, and financially support my family. As you probably know, this isn’t all that easy to do. And the struggles to incorporate positive beliefs, financially support a family, and keep one’s spouse as one’s very best friend, are on-going.
So, as a former Boy Scout, still learning to prepare, I’d like to know—what are your challenges, and what do you need to be better-prepared fathers?
Related Blogs:
Becoming the Mom You Never Thought You’d Be