When I think about my husband’s ability to be a father- I think so much of what makes him such a good dad is his advanced age. Being older he’s so much more mellow and relaxed. He’s traveled, he’s done the bachelor thing (in case I didn’t make it clear I’m a first wife– so my man lived a bachelor life till the ripe old age of 40!) he’s figured out who he is and really made it his first priority to be as connected and involved with the raising of our two kids as I could ever have hoped for.
He wanted these children as soon as we were married- and when I was content with one, it was he who pushed me to have another. But now, as the AARP is calling his name, his hips are hurting him and his hair is far greyer than its once jet black, sometimes in the very dark recesses of my mind, I worry that physically playing with our ten year old son might be too much of a shock to his system.
And while older dads ( like my husband) will not be able to avoid UNCOMFORTABLE situations like–when he was recently sitting at our local community center with our son and an even “older guy” came up to the two of them and said, “Oh your grand son is so cute- you’re such a good grandfather.” Still if you need yet another reason to help encourage the older guy in your life to get on the fatherhood train these quotes about fatherhood! This very first one is one of my favorites:
“It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons”. ~Johann Schiller
So what’s your take on the older dad thing–good or bad?
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