Father’s Hood – Introduction

My biggest inspiration for starting Spree Speech is to try to leave this world a better place for my son. To do so, I need to learn to be a better parent and, if, in the process, I can help others, all the better. With that in mind, I’m creating a section with posts that may be of interest to all parents, but with a focus on fathers.

While you can find these articles on the main page of this site, I am also collecting them in the Father’s Hood page so that those of you who do not want to be bothered with political discussions can read and respond in peace.

Let me kick off by stating up front, I am not a perfect father. I’ve made lots of mistakes along the way, but I’ve also done a lot right. I feel like, and have been told that, overall, I’m a good father, but that doesn’t mean much as the bar has been set pretty low.

Three years ago, I was working on a video with the Father’s and Families Coalition of America, and shooting a talk about the cycle of father’s leaving their families. Sitting there, behind the camera, I started thinking about where I learned to be a father. I learned by watching my father. Now, I know how tired he must have been, coming home from work and then having a little kid pounce on him. Yet, he always made time for me.

So where do men who didn’t have that learn? Those who break the cycle above learned by watching the fathers of others, from other family members, or from friends. Hopeful this blog can be a resource.

So, the rules are the same for these posts, please participate in the discussion. As long as the posts and comments are respectful, they are welcome.