Speaking of failures, amidst my many shortcomings, I’ve had this nagging something plaguing me of late. It’s okay to fail at writing, it’s okay to fail at my profession, and it’s okay to fail at losing weight and exercise. But I cannot accept failure at being a dad.

But I’ve felt like a failure lately. It seems that 90+% of my interactions with my kids are contentious. And all the while, I keep thinking, I’m one of those dads. You know what I’m talking about, right? The sort of dad that’s always butting heads with the kids, the sort of dad that the kids are conditioned to resent long before maturity sets in (and with it, the humble realization that dad may have been right after all).

But, I did little about it. I suppose I was so preoccupied with my other endeavors to do anything about it. (Bad idea). Read more »