Articles. News. Information.

Category of Information, News & Articles


Dad, Go Ahead and Cry


She slipped her small, soft eight-year-old hand into mine. Her face was lit up with joy. And as my daughter took my hand and moved closer to me, I lost control of my emotions.

Tears of joy ran down my face, right in the middle of the church where my daughter was having her first communion. Right in the middle of many of our family members, who had come to support her.

As she sat there in her white dress and veil, she seemed an angel to me. And when I saw the joy in her eyes, I was no match for it. The tears just came.

There's no manual that comes for us in moments like this. They simply grab you and take you where they want. I sat there, wrestling with a number of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Would my daughter or other family members be embarrassed? After all, I'm a man! We're supposed to control our emotions, right? Part of me wanted to have the freedom to cry freely without judgment. But mostly, the feeling that overcame me was one of pure joy and gratitude.

Here I was with a loving, supportive family, seeing my daughter go through an important rite of passage, and seeing her immense excitement and joy. Sharing that moment with her made everything in my life feel worthwhile. It made all the hardships of raising children seem insignificant. I felt as fortunate as anyone on earth. Why was I chosen to receive all these blessings? It was the kind of moment that we don't have enough of, and the kind of moment that fathers don't always embrace as strongly as they could.

This kind of moment is what most of us live for, whether we know it or not. The moment in which our heart takes over. The moment that brings us the closest to pure love, when we see our child as an amazing gift from God.

On this day, the vision of my daughter snuggled next to me was etched in my mind forever.

Later, after the celebration was over, we arrived at home to begin business-as-usual. I thought about the many projects that I'd neglected to start. The garden, the lawn, and the inside of the house all screamed my name. I felt that familiar sense of having too many things to do, and too little time.

And then I remembered the moment with my daughter again, knowing that it could never be taken away from us. I knew then that the decision about which project to start wasn't really important. In fact, it didn't matter that much if I started any of them at all.

What was really important was keeping my heart open, for the next "moment."

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches busy parents by phone to balance their life and improve their family relationships. For a FREE twenty minute sample session by phone; ebooks, courses, articles, and a FREE newsletter, go to http://www.markbrandenburg.com. or email him at mark@markbrandenburg.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

Families Today: Toddler’s sleep problems trouble parents
Houston Chronicle, United States - Jan 6, 2009
Because parenting is a tough job. Show off their silly faces, cute moments or just time around the house. Q: Up until a week ago, our 25-month-old daughter ...


Parenting posed problems for J.Lo, Anthony
MSNBC - 4 hours ago
By Ree Hines Even while soaking up the sun in Puerto Rico, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony just couldn’t escape the ongoing rumors of relationship woes. ...


Parents regret not reporting boy missing ... after nine years
Pitch Weekly, MO - Jan 6, 2009
Lovely story out of Sedgwick County, Kansas, where a pre-teen boy named Adam Herrman goes missing in 1999 and his adoptive parents patiently wait until just ...


Stuff for parents and kids
Old Colony Memorial and Plymouth Bulletin, MA - 4 hours ago
The Plymouth Family Network (PFN) provides playgroups, story times, music classes, parent workshops and support to families with children under the age of ...


All parents can use support
Carolina Peacemaker, NC - 13 hours ago
by Marian Wright Edelman Parenting offers the most wonderful and daunting challenges in the world. Parents are their children’s most important teachers and ...
YOUR VIEW: JOHN M. LEVENTHAL Hartford Courant
all 3 news articles


Parents, who needs them?
Denver Post, CO - 25 minutes ago
By Rudy F. Malesich We need not look far to find horror stories about parents' overt physical and emotional reactions to decisions and events in our schools ...


Parents' resolutions for the new year
Centre Daily Times, PA - 16 hours ago
Being a parent is not an easy job. It is helpful for parents to have support from their community and to know that they are not alone in raising their ...


Program aims to nurture better parents
Broomfield Enterprise, CO - 46 minutes ago
By Michael Davidson (Contact) That's why Broomfield Health and Human Services will once again offer special parenting workshops to residents who wish they ...


Community offers Spanish-language parenting class
Anderson Herald Bulletin, IN - 4 hours ago
His mother, Florencia Murrillo, and his father, Oscar Pacheco, do not speak English and were just two of seven Hispanic parents learning about baby issues ...


Examiner.com

Would you trust a man for parenting advice?
Examiner.com - 15 hours ago
by Terreece Clarke, Parenting Examiner The year 2009 is bringing big changes and I'm not talking about our new president. It seems men are shattering the ...

Parenting - Google News

Home | Sitemap
© 2006 eInfoJunction.com Homepage | Web Directory | Article Directory| Bid Directory