World’s 23,312,017th Greatest Dad!

I mean, think about it, with so many World’s Greatest Dads or #1 Dads around, that group is really really crowded and I know I am nowhere near to being that good of a father. Heck, not even the World’s 2nd or 100th or 1,000th Greatest Dad. But think about it, just being conservative with the figures, we could say there are a billion fathers on the planet. With those numbers, I am in the top 2%. Not too shabby. Plus it gives me room for improvement. Goodness knows I need it.

Seriously, being the head of a family is a pretty daunting task. One that never ends. My father can testify to that.

It is true that parenting does not come with an instruction booklet. But you know who has an instruction book? Children. And that book is me and their mother. We are the book from which they will learn and copy or reject. And like with all textbooks, they will skim over the words of what we say and simply skip to the illustrations and examples of what we do.

Not when we think they are listening or paying attention – because they are always paying attention – but when you find them liking the same things you do, or laughing like you or reacting to things like you.

Again, “Please see example A”.

They separate the bullshit you want them to believe from the person you are without the hype.

Every day is a page they turn in their manuals on the road to becoming themselves. They may take some things, leave others, but always use my actions as the baseline reference point. And every night I think about all the things I could have done better by them and all the things I did right by them.

You see, today is really not about me. It is about our children: Rashad, Mariposa, and Ezekiel. They are the real stars – not only today – but everyday. They are the reason for everything, including the rings – one for each of them on advice from Mariposa and on both hands. So that is why today is why I reflect and rejoice at being the World’s 23,312,017th Greatest Dad!

Hoping that next year I might move up a bit, not a lot, just enough to show that I have improved as a father.