One of the bittersweet joys
of 20 plus years as a single parent
is being told by my kids
that I’m the
“best dad they know.”
I get Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
acknowledgement.
Both kids, on various & mulitple occasions,
marvel at me in an
I-don’t-know-how-you-did-it way.
Me either.
Except in some ways single parenting
seems easier.
No one to discuss discipline styles.
No one to play good cop/bad cop.
No one to challenge the
hundreds and thousands
of decisions
it takes to get a child
safely, healthy and happy
(and, in my house, happy was optional)
to launch.
Single parenting certainly streamlined the process.
But it wasn’t nearly as joyful as
I imagine parenting with a
(mostly) like-minded partner
could be.
I remember overhearing my
then grade-school son talking
with his friends –
wildy coincidently – all being raised
by divorced or widowed moms.
“Dads. Who needs them?”
said one particularly jaded boy.
Don’t get me wrong:
I’m pro-dads.
(Especially the single, age-appropriate ones. Grrr.)
But, I’m even more pro-parents.
Kids need parents. Good ones.
So, “Happy Father’s Day” to me
and all the other men & women
who are making good parenting
a life-long priority.
Let’s have a beer.
