This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gillette at Sam’s Club for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Being the dad of three boys is a huge responsibility. When we found out that Becky was pregnant with our first son, the excitement and anxiety of it all hit me. A son. A son that will look up to me. A son that will mimic my every move. A son that will follow my lead. Fast forward six years… our family had grown.
As they continued to grow in age, I continued to think of more and more things that I needed to teach them. I knew what I wanted to teach our daughter and I knew the ‘life lessons’ that I wanted to teach our sons. Now that they are older, it dawned on me that the everyday things that I teach my children will be the things that turn into habits for them…
I can remember learning simple life-skills from my dad and now I am doing the same thing with our sons.
- Dads cook, too. It’s funny that the opinion of many is that the “moms do the cooking,” because in our house, I prefer cooking. Becky will cook, but really doesn’t enjoy it like I do. I wanted our kids to know that I love cooking and I wanted to instill that in them, too.
To accomplish this, I usually have one of the kids Jack (9), Beau (7) Ethan (5) or Allie (3) help me make dinner each night. Now we typically don’t make it too fancy, but if thats your thing, go with it. We are more of a chicken tacos and lasagna type of family.
I prep everything and give the kids the directions from there. If there is heat involved, I stay right there with them. If they can do it themselves, I back away and let them try. The kids are all really into cooking shows, so they love this. It is amazing how proud they feel when everyone tells them how good dinner was that night.
As parents it makes us feel good, because now they understand the time that we put in cooking the meals for them each and every night. - Tie a tie. So many people have no idea how to tie a tie. I want our kids to know and I want them to learn early. An easy way to do this is to have them help me time that I put one on. I’ve given each of them one of my ties to practice themselves. Now, they don’t get it right most of the time, but they have fun trying and when they do get it, they are so excited about it.
- Teach them how to Shave A few days ago, Ethan and I were grocery shopping (which means we were at Sam’s Club, because with a family of six, the normal stores just don’t cut it). When I stopped in the razor isle to grab a pack of Gillette Fusion ProShield, Ethan asked me why I had to shave. I took this opportunity to teach Ethan about shaving. I grabbed some shaving cream (luckily the Gillette Fusion Proshield has lubrication before & after the blade to shield you while you shave) & picked up a toy razor. (His pack of razors probably won’t last 9 months like my pack will, because I think toys disappear in our house.) When we got home, I let him put shaving cream on and we shaved together (of course, Becky took a million pictures…)
- Handshakes. Everybody should understand the art of the handshake. There are two kinds: formal and informal. Formal handshake~ Strong handshake. Look the opposing person in the eyes. Introduce yourself first and ask for their name “You are?” Informal Handshake~ Take their hand and pull it in while you give them a hug with the other hand and use that second hand to pat them firmly on the back. Ask a question “How’s it going?”
- Doing the laundry. As a kid, I had to do my own laundry. I didn’t like it at the time, but now it’s kind of a way to relax (Thanks, Mom) Put on the game, grab laundry that needs to be folded and just work without really thinking about it. (Your wife will be pretty happy about it, too.) z
Sometimes, it isn’t about these huge life lessons, it can be the simple ones that we need to remember. It isn’t about long drawn out lectures, it can be short, to the point things that teach them the most. Whatever it is, do it with a willing spirit, because your kids will pick up on your attitude as quickly as they pick up on the lessons you are teaching them.
We wanted to give you a chance to win a Sam’s Club gift card. Leave a comment below telling me your favorite lesson to teach your child (it doesn’t have to be one listed above).
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