The Father's Guide to the Meaning of Life : What Being a Dad Has Taught Me about Hope, Love, Patience, Pride, and Everyday Wonder Book

The Father's Guide to the Meaning of Life
What Being a Dad Has Taught Me about Hope, Love, Patience, Pride, and Everyday Wonder

On Perfection
"The best dads are the ones who aren't afraid to screw up in front of their kids. They're the ones who drop an occasional fly ball and laugh, who burn a meal and then treat everyone to dinner, who call a repairman to fix what they couldn't, who finish second (or last) with no regrets. These guys make such good fathers because they're so real. If you're not perfect, your children never feel they have to be."

On the Need for Play
"Play is instinctual. You see it in cubs; you see it in kids. Give a child an interesting object, and it follows as naturally as giggles from a tickle. It is how we learn, how we explore, how we first open our minds. And when we stumble across it as adults, part of us remembers this and prepares to grow again. The older we get, the more exciting that possibility is."

On Love
"A good test for love is if it can thrive amidst the mundane, whether you can find as much shared satisfaction in living the everyday as you can the extraordinary. If so, then it's true. Remember this: Life is largely routine, and love must carry on in these times, too."

On Knowledge
"A child's inclination is to question the world, and a father's duty is to supply as many answers as he can. The important thing to remember is that even if you don't know the explanation, your kid thinks you do. Don't let him down."

On Bedtime
"No time is more special between father and child than the few minutes just before bed. Whether they're 15 months or 15 years, they are the warmest, kindest, and most appreciative of beings during that brief period. Use this opportunity for whatever you like: a bedtime story, a prayer, a discussion. It doesn't really matter. The important thing is your being there, your giving them your full attention for perhaps the first time that day."