Becoming a DadA conscious intention to enjoy being a parent is one of the most loving gifts you can give your child.
Parenting is a spiritual path: everyday, another lesson in what is real; everyday, another teaching about love; everyday, a chance to become who you really are.
With that in mind, I offer you a poem I wrote called "Becoming a Dad."
You don’t just become a dad
once.
It happens many times over with
the same child.
When your child is born, you
become a dad.
And when you take your child home
for the first time, you really
become a dad.
When you rock your baby to sleep
in the early a.m. hours, you
become a dad.
When there is no one else to clean
up the sick, you really
become a dad.
And when she smiles at you,
not just with her lips, but with her
eyes and her heart, you are
anointed and blessed and you
become a dad.
Across the years, in every moment
that passes, you become a dad,
and you are given a chance to be
who you really are.
One day, as you sit there, waiting
for a business meeting to begin,
or something, it hits you. Really
hits you. Between the eyes. “I
am a dad.”
A real dad.
And as you smile to yourself, your
heart takes off, like a big balloon,
floating high into the sky.
