Being a Dad: Embracing 'Dad Thoughts'

Hello and Welcome Home!

I have no idea where all of January went. I can't believe it's already almost over. Being a dad that works full-time I often think about what may be going on at home. I wonder if my kids are experiencing some sort of growing pain or if they are putting to much strain on my wife. I guess you could say I worry about what I am missing. My 'Dad Thoughts' ponder the unknown.

I don't know how many other working parents out their feel the same way when they are gone from the home but its something that surfaces at times when I look at pictures of my wife and kids on my desk and on the shelves in my office space. I see those pictures and I can't help but think about things like this.

I wonder about what they are doing and about what I will come home to when the workday is done. My thoughts sometimes even betray me and I think about the things that could go wrong. These ponderings don't impact the way I do my job by any means, but they are still there, dancing around when I have a spare moment or two. For a while there I thought the only way around it was to work closer to home or even to take a work from home job but that did not end up happening.

My struggle has always been, finding balance. I know that being a dad comes with responsibility, but I also know that I'd rather not be forced into an 8-hour workday to provide for my family Knowing both sides of this equation weigh on me at times and it can be overwhelming. My only solace is that there is a time to work and a time to rest, so to speak, not that being a dad is restful, but you get my drift right?

When my thoughts begin to ponder these things I remind myself that I do what I do so I can give my family the time they deserve. I remind my self that even if I'm gone for those 8 odd hours each day there is still a good number of those hours that I can give to my family. 

Life doesn't always give us what we want but we can make the best of what we are given. I find myself embracing more of those family moments now that I ever have before and while family life is some times stressful, the benefits are there.

Being a dad that has a full-time job doesn't mean we have to give up those 'dad thoughts', or those dad moments. It gives us more of a reason to embrace every chance we do get to love doing what we can do as dads.

"Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." - Prov 12:25

Living by Faith, with our Family,

M.E.