It is that which I lavish upon all of my children with such a fierceness that I often find myself wishing, with the entirety of my heart, that I could shield them from the sometimes necessary but often difficult lessons that life must teach them.
I want them to be whole and wise. I want them to value family and relationships. I want them to know how to recognize real love and real happiness. Not the counterfeit kind. But that which is pursued with integrity and rewarded with interest.
So it's on bittersweet nights like last night that I fully appreciate both the blessing and the challenge of fatherhood.
Do you Dads often feel this way? Do Moms realize it? Can you picture your Father having these thoughts about you?
True 
Comments (10)
I don't feel this way often, but enough for it to weigh on me at times. Interestingly enough, I couldn't picture my father thinking this way about me. He's an introvert and isn't very expressive emotionally. Most times it's a guess as to what he's feeling about anyone. lol
@MyxlDove@xanga - I know, although I knew my father loved us all very very much, I can't picture him pondering like this either. Maybe that's because I didn't really know him as an adult (he passed away when I was 20) and I wasn't a parent myself to pick up on those emotions.
I still wonder what preempted this...
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - You can't have known what you hadn't yet experienced. Children aren't supposed to perceive their parents in fullness, it just can't be that way. I guarantee he felt and did this very thing. I know because we talked about it, agonized over it and chose the best we knew to do at the time. I think that's what most parents do. And then hope.
@MyxlDove@xanga - I don't know your circumstance at all, not at all. But because a parent doesn't express emotion - especially intense emotion, like fear or concern - does not mean they don't feel it. Very often parents are required to put on a brave front or seem assured even when they have no idea what to do. I just don't think it's possible for children to understand their parents. For children, things seem so straight forward and simple - it's right/wrong, fair/unfair, black/white. Parents see so much more gray - and know it isn't usually that simple. It just isn't understandable when it is not anywhere in your experience. Yet.
@MissLawson@xanga - You're absolutely right. As a child I couldn't have known what my father was feeling or if he was feeling much at all. That's how HE is (even to this day), and I know he loves me. But as a father of 5, I'm very different from my father in that regard. While I don't share everything I'm feeling, I'm still very affectionate toward my children. They know exactly how close I carry them to my heart and what I want for their futures.
Oh yeah, I know my dad feels this way about us. To him, we are what makes life worth living. He's not particularly demonstrative, but I know.
My father was and still is the type to keep his feelings hidden. In fact, he often makes my mom tell someone when he's upset, angry or uncomfortable about something. It's weird, but we got used to it.
My husband is very involved in our children's lives, and often expresses his concerns and fears with me. I hope this continues, and he feels comfortable enough to share his feelings with the kids as they grow as well.
Yes, my 90 year old father feels those feelings of tenderness, protectiveness, of wanting to help when help is needed, and I'm almost 60. My husband has those same feelings towards ours, who are in their 30s, always concerned that somebody checked the oil in his car, ahem, always concerned they feel good about themselves no matter what is happening in their lives, always loving and caring unconditionally for our daughter who smokes, and how easy is it to lecture a child who smokes? But she's 36, and hardly what I'd call dumb. Yes, fathers are many times the better part of the two. That's the way it was for me growing up.
I can see my dad thinking like that... He always tried protecting us and giving us the best in life and always reminded us about how important family was...
I know my stepdad felt that way. I'm pretty sure my dad does, although he'd never come right out and say it.