I had a great dad – I still do, in fact. He was engaged, imaginative, and hard-working. He taught me a lot of the important lessons in life, and I respect him for it. One of the most important things he did was to be a man of his word. When he said he was going to do something, he did it. And because of it, I trusted him, and we still have a great relationship built on that trust today.
When I tell my boys I’m going to do something, I want to follow through – no matter how much I may not want to. Like last weekend: Adlai had been talking about swimming all day on the Friday, and when I told him we couldn’t go, he was gutted. So, to cheer him up, I told him we’d go on Sunday. But when 7am on Sunday morning rolled around and it seemed he’d forgotten, I was glad. What I’d really rather do was sit in my dressing gown, pour myself a cup of coffee, and enjoy a nice double-bill of Dino Dan.
But as I sat there, sipping my coffee, it ate at me: I’d told him we would go swimming, and just because he didn’t realise what day it was, didn’t mean I shouldn’t follow through. So I went upstairs, dragged Faith out of bed(it was her turn for a bit of a lie-in, so she wasn’t too happy at first), and told her we were going on a family swimming outing.
When I told Adlai we were going, he was thrilled. He hadn’t realised it was Sunday, but he didn’t think twice. His dad was following through on what he’d told him he would do.
There are a few things I want to instill in my boys: a respect for the Beautiful Game, a love of 80s sci-fi, and an appreciation for a good quality burger. But more than that, I want them to know that their dad is a man of his word, and that no matter what, they can always trust me.
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