As a father, you immediately become uncool, especially the older they get. The older you get, it's inevitable that, as cool as you think you are, you're probably just as lame in your kids' eyes.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Being a father at a later age is different from when I had my other two daughters when I was in my 20s and 30s. If you're in your 60s and you're with the kid every day, you're dealing with the mind of a child, so it opens up that childishness in you again.
It gets to you as a father when your kids don't react to you in the way you imagine.
Being a father can 'unreason' your worldview, or at least make it very flexible, and that can create all sorts of fun and insights. It's sad that children's open-eyed wonder and sense of play begin to fade as they approach adolescence. One grand function of fathering is to keep the fading to a minimum.
When you're around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you're supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.
I'm just as insufferable and useless as every other dad is. The dynamic never changes, no matter what you do for a living.
You don't want your children to look at you like you are anything special other than their dad.
The most challenging part of being a dad is self-restraint. So often your instinct is to teach and tell. I am constantly reminding myself to listen to them.
I really enjoy being a dad, and maybe I took it too seriously, but I love being around my kids.
I think you need something to take care of in order to figure out who you are as a person, and in that way, being a dad has levelled me out more than anything. You've just got to be good for that person no matter what's going on in your head that day.
I think I'm a much better father as an older man than I was with my first kids. Occasionally, I have to yell at the little guys, but they don't take me seriously. 'Listen to the old guy,' they say. 'Isn't he great? He's mad.'