"Dad"ifesto

You wear lots of hats in your life, but arguably the most important one you wear, or aspire to wear, is the Dad hat. Sure it’s not your best looking, or best smelling, hat. But you wear this hat with pride. You don’t go home after a long day of work just to take the rest of the day off. You know that the real work, the lasting work, begins the second you walk through that door. So you prepare yourself on the drive home. You intentionally let the worries of the day fade away as you get ready to influence and teach the next generation how to be kinder, stronger and more capable than this one. You put a smile on your face and walk through that door with open arms, embracing those little, or big, turds with all the love you can muster, so that they have no doubt in the world that their Dad loves them with all his heart. You don’t look at the smears of goldfish and yogurt you’re now covered in as stains to be treated, but rather as trophies to be cherished, given by those endlessly loving and forgiving humans you helped create, albeit briefly. You endure fits, fights, mood-swings, puberty and adolescence with patience and perspective, knowing that all of these are simply requests to be understood and loved unconditionally. Sure you have hard days, screw ups, and even break downs from time to time. But you never, ever give up on being the best damn dad that you can be. Because you know that the most important “work” you’ll do in this life is within the walls of your own home.