Fatherhood.org

I find the most inane things interesting. Once in a while you will find me sitting at the computer, dazed but not distracted. I am intently focused on some completely trivial thing that requires immediate and un-diverted attention.

Last week it was the fatherhood.org website.

If you haven't been there - GO. Go now. Please, I implore you. I could spend an hour touring that site. It is not that I want to be a good father (I am a girl, by the way), but I want OTHERS to be better Dads. I am a teacher and I see the pain kids go through everyday. I know that half the parents I need to speak to won't call me back because they dislike the school and all the memories that go along with it.

I love the tagline for the advertising pitch: "The smallest moments can have the biggest impact on a child's life. It takes a MAN to be a DAD."

They have the cutest ads, but they make the point. I believe they say:

Sometimes you may feel (or look) stupid, but it will be the moment your child cherishes forever.

"Dance" is my favorite. After you watch it, you know that little girl will remember the day she danced with her Daddy 10 years down the road when she goes to her prom, 20 years down the road when they dance together at her wedding and countless years later when she remembers him after his passing.

So please, GO. Dads, dance with your daughters, play ball with yor sons - call a teacher just to see how things are going. We don't bite - as a matter of fact, we like involved parents. It is always so much easier to get involved early in the year when we still don't know them very well yet. There isn't much negative we can say in mid-October except maybe, "he could do more homework" or "she might do better if she didn't chat as much."

You can handle that, right?
Sure, you can.
You're a Dad...you're a man.