I’ve often joked that just about anybody can have a kid, but a license is required to cut hair in the United States. Overall, this is a pretty funny statement that pokes fun at the disparity between the training and education you must receive to work in a salon versus the one to two middle or high school classes that touch on child-rearing. I mean no offense to the barbers and hair stylists of the world, by the way. 

Realistically speaking, people are generally only taught the biological means through which children are produced and their different stages of development. If you’re lucky, you’re also taught the basics of caring for a baby’s needs; even then, it’s likely only theoretical knowledge or demonstrated with a baby doll or bag of flour. But that’s about it. 

Sure, it’s very common for parents to read books or seek advice from experienced individuals in their life while their baby develops in utero. But is that enough to prepare ourselves for parenthood? Likely not, and I’d say that is especially true for fathers. 

“I’m not rasing boys. I am raising little fathers and husbands.”

Mads’ Dad Gramma

So, what more could society do to prepare the next generation of fathers? I think the answer is that it starts at home, and it’s up to you as a father to demonstrate to the young men in your life what a father should be. After all, we are our son’s first heroes and our daughter’s first depiction of how a partner should treat them. When I was a kid, my mom often remarked that she wasn’t raising two little boys but little fathers and husbands, a saying I love. 

It means that you show your children what to do by doing it. For example, imagine that you are helping them build a resume and that each new skill you teach them or idea you expose them to becomes marketable for them later in life.

A Final Thought

I encourage you to create your own “Dad Resume” and affirm to yourself the things you do well, and perhaps identify some areas you’d like to improve. Doing so will allow you to grow as a father and help you shape your children into the people they deserve to become. 

___

What’s something that would appear on your Dad Resume?