Being A Father During A Pandemic

 This upcoming school year has been met with lots of uncertainties for administrators, superintendent's, principals, teachers, coaches, parents and students.  My two son's seem to not have been affected by all of the rhetoric surrounding Covid-19, because my wife and I both made a decision to explain to them what's going on, and we chose not to dwell on the entire situation. 

As a father, I feel that it's my personal responsibility to make sure that my entire family feels safe, secure & protected especially during a pandemic.  One of the things that I made a decision to do during this pandemic is to sit my family down and explain to them that since we are a family of faith, that we were going to [continue to put our full trust in the Lord and focus on what the word of God says, not man]. So, we increased our studying of God's word and we made a commitment not to let our guards down and allow the media to infiltrate our space as a family with negative thoughts. 

A week prior to the opening of our online school year, I decided to take a week off so that I could be around my son's and wife without any distractions. I also wanted my family to know that they are extremely important to me (even more than my job), so while off for the first week, I asked my 13 year old son what he wanted to do, and he said, "can we paint my room," and that answer was, "yes of course," my 7 year old son then asked if we could go to Chuck e Cheese to play video games, and that answer was, "yes of course." 

After seeing a week of smiles, goofy conversations, several laughing moments and breakfast, lunch and dinner meals daily, oh, and also school shopping, I felt that we were closer than every before. So, the next week that they were suppose to start online school, it became apparent to me that they needed me at home for the start of online learning and I also felt the need to be at home with them all day as a father, helping with school work, (reading, math, social studies, writing and etc...) and affirming my overall love for them. After our school days, my youngest son and I take bike rides daily while my older son and I often worked out with weights or play a friendly competitive game of 1 on 1 basketball. 

There's nothing like being a father and being involved in the lives of your children. Children need to know that they are our #1 and top priority. As for my wife who went to work each day, I simply made sure that the inside and outside of our home was tidy, dinner cooked, filed paperwork, and things were in place that normally has to wait until the weekend.

"Being a father is a big deal and always will be. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be father!"

Deon