When I first starting thinking about this blog, I thought about who might be reading it. I figured mostly moms. Perhaps a few dads would peruse my site but I thought my writing would be more relatable to moms.
But over the years as my ideas for this blog grew to incorporate grandparents, family and friends, neighbors and members of the community, I realized that I couldn’t possibly write about the importance of a strong support system in raising healthy children without a section for dads.
As a woman, I am a mother, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, and a member of my community. Someday I hope to be a grandparent. But I will never a dad. I wondered though what kind of content I could write about and wondered if it was a territory I shouldn’t encroach upon, perhaps an area that was out of my scope.
But as I put together this site, I couldn’t leave out a section for dads — even if I wasn’t entirely sure what I would write about yet. My writing has usually come from thinking critically about situations involving parenting, reflecting and analyzing, debriefing and decoding solutions. I could certainly lump all of my ideas for moms and dads into a section on parenting — but I knew I needed to dive deeper into some aspects of parenting that would inherently be more focused towards moms. Still, I needed a section for dads.
More importantly, this site wouldn’t have launched without the support of my husband. This piece of my work, a small token of my gratitude, a reminder of the support he provides that has given me the space to think critically about our life and raising our kids together, striving to raise them healthy and thriving. The mornings he stepped in after a long week of work, rusty in parenting but taking over the responsibility so I could head out to write.
And despite a busy career, he reads every article — every word, on every page. He has promoted my writing to people before it ever hit social media platforms. And if this blog ever becomes a success, it will have been because of my writing but his support.
My husband brings strengths to parenting that I lack and support for the strengths that I possess. None of this we do alone. All of it we do together.
As people complement our parenting styles from time to time, I believe the single most important key to our success has been that we are a solid unit when it comes to parenting our children. Our kids do not receive mixed messages. Even when we don’t agree, we tell our kids we will discuss it and we come back to them after we have compromised. Our kids get consistency from us — we back each other up. Our marriage has been full of struggles over the years but our parenting always comes down to being one together. We are a mom and a dad but together we are united as one voice to our children. I think it provides them with more security, knowing that they can expect that even when their mom and dad disagree, they are going to work together as parents. Compromising and working together we are able to provide our kids with a strong foundation, a strong source of support.
I am also a mom of three boys — three small children who will one day grow up to be men and perhaps, fathers. People who, with any luck, might come to me for guidance and support, advice and help as they raise their own children. My experience as a mom might be very different from many of the experiences they will have as a father. Not only for my husband but for my kids, I want to better understand dads and the roles they play in the lives of their children. I want to think about that now so I am more prepared when they come to me needing advice later.
This site simply couldn’t move forward without including stories and reflections on parenting that involve dads.
Writing about father figures in a child’s life will challenge me to read expert opinion on the topic and further explore their roles in the healthy growth and development of children — arguably providing an incredible opportunity to really strengthen the foundation of this site. Whether it’s a child’s father or a father figure like an uncle or a godfather who steps in to play ball with a child or teach them how to make a pizza, this site needed to have a section for dads.
The focus of this blog is to better understand how we can all work together to improve the lives of the children growing up around us — and I think that starts with reading about and understanding the roles we all play, even if it isn’t exactly relatable to us individually.
I’m not a dad but I decided I didn’t need to be. We are all in this parenting thing together — moms and dads. She can do it, he could do it, together we will do it.
And so, my writing in this blog will be for those people who yearn for a better way to raise our kids, a place where the focus is on our families and a world that supports our efforts to raise the next generation to be healthier, more resilient, and better supported.
Dads, this is for you too.
While I hope you enjoy reading my posts, kindly be advised that the words in this article are not medical advice and I cannot guarantee that they will work for you or your family. They are my reflections on parenting my three boys, based on my own personal background and experiences. Always reach out to your own health professionals for any questions or concerns. Please read my full disclosure at the bottom of this site for more information. Very sincerely, Mamma P.
