1 of 2

Hey Dad,

Well, I made it. I survived the weekend with no wife. It was tiring, but overall it went well. We ate pizza in the family room, cooked hotdogs over a campfire, and even had a burping match.

The only mishaps that occurred were with Abe, our two-year-old, who, by the way, is a great belcher for his age. He swiped candy from the upper kitchen cabinets, spilled red pop all over the floor, and when I went to check on him during his nap, he had five of his older brother's pocketknives in his bed.

You know, if he was a comic book character, he'd be named Mr. Destructo.

Just a half hour ago, I found him at the top of the steps holding our expensive camera in one hand and a bag of grated cheese in the other. I'm not sure what he planned to do with the combination, but as soon as he saw me, one hand went to protect his back end.

The funny thing is the "Mr. Destructo" taught me a valuable lesson last night. I was in another room when I heard him run up to his mom who was typing on the computer.

"Mom … Mom … Mom," he repeated.

"What do you want, Abe?" she asked as she worked.

"Mom … Mom … Mom."

No kidding, this went back and forth for at least a minute. What struck me was that although Debbie was listening, he knew she wasn't really listening because she wasn't looking at him and was still typing. He wanted eye contact.

That's really the secret of listening—whether you're listening to your wife talk or one of your kids. I've tried to fake it. Matter of fact, I just did it ten minutes ago as my oldest son was describing in great detail some complex trampoline maneuver.

"Yeah, neat, Ben … cool … keep at it … uhh … yep."

How pathetic. I feel ashamed when I think of how excited he was to tell me and how the only thing I wanted was for him to stop talking.

How about you, dad? How are doing in the listening department? Today,

You 'da Dad! [Todd]

©Copyright Todd Wilson, 2004. Used by permission.

A Familyman Commercial

I want to offer you one of the greatest fathering tools known to modern man … the 2005 You 'Da Dad Daily Calendar. It's 365 days of fathering quotes, tips for dads, top 10's, cartoons, and other cool dad stuff.

The purpose of it is to give you a daily reminder that what you do as a dad and husband is the most important thing you do. It will remind you to tell your children you love them, do small acts of service for your wife, and others things you'd like to do if someone would just remind you. And scattered throughout the pages are "instant notes." You'll be given space to write a short note, instructions on what to write about, and then you give it to the people you love the most. That's a three-pointer!

next page... |  1 of 2

share this page

				Try an Issue of Men of Integrity Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Men of Integrity as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up for the Men of Integrity Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help