Lessons that Fatherhood taught me.

I’ve been a proud dad for the past twenty years… My eldest daughter, Nia, is studying Psychology at the University of the West Indies. She is very independent and more mature than her father. My eleven year old daughter, Cyan, is the boss and a talented artist, and then there is Alex, my six year old son, the charmer. When I say no, they strategically send Alex to work his charm and I must say, he’s good.

I’ve learned so many lessons over the years as a Dad, for example, patience, empathy and understanding. However, the one lesson I’ve learned to value the most is not to sweat the small stuff. Now I know it may not seem like a valuable life lesson but as parents, we are all guilty of losing our cool from time to time, saying things we don’t really mean to our kids when they do crazy and stupid things like break valuable items, make unnecessary noises while we’re on the phone, spilling a drink on your work laptop, even colouring on your freshly painted wall and the list goes on.

What do we do? Get angry, yell, punish and even say things like you're a naughty child. However, over time I’ve thought about parents who’ve lost their kids through accidents or health issues and have to live the rest of their lives with just the memory of their child and I ask myself, “if I lost any of my kids today, what would life be like, what would I do?” I’m not sure how I’d go through life without them but one thing I know for sure is that I would wish for more days of stuff breaking, more months of interrupted phone calls and more years of coloured walls.

So to all parents out there, please don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy every moment with your kids, hug and let them know how much you love them every chance you get.