Daddin': The Verb of Being a Dad

Inspired by the book, by Dion McInnis

Monthly Archives: May 2013

The Perfect Answer

1 Comment Posted by on May 30, 2013

My granddaughter is brilliant.  Ok, so is yours, but I have to smile at a recent interaction and the perfection of the short dialog.

It has been too long since I held her in my arms, so I was relishing the moment the other day when she leaned back and looked at my hair.

“What color your hair?” the two and one-half year old queried.

“Oh, sweetie, that is gray,” I said.

She smiled.  “And black,” she added.

The years have brought much gray, and I am proud to say that I have earned every single strand.  But her comment was more clarifying than she knows, but such is the wisdom of youth.

As I access the wisdom and perspectives of my sons (31, 27 and 20), and reflect on the insights they have shared over the years, I am now able to access new truth again, in the sweet voice of a young girl not yet three who carries at least some of my DNA.  And so the process continues.

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The Next Generation of Daddin'

A Book “Review”

Leave a comment Posted by on May 30, 2013

I had a book reading this morning at a local Rotary Club, sharing stories and poetry from Daddin’.  As I signed books for some of the attendees, I was pleased to sign three for one man:  one for his son, and one for each of his two sons in-law.  I said, “I hope they enjoy them.”  The man replied, “I am sure they will.  I sure enjoyed mine.”

And I smiled.

I have always hoped that by being as genuine as I can for my sons, they will turn out being better men than me as a pattern of growth for McInnis men.  Dad’s tombstone reads “He has left for us a most noble pattern,” and that is the best any of us can do for those who follow.  Now the book plays a role, I hope.

The book is honest, if nothing else, as it shares the various perspectives of sonhood and fatherhood.  My greatest hope is that it makes a difference first, and then perhaps some enjoyment, too.  Today’s “customer” tells me that perhaps I am on the right path in helping others see the joy of the greatest “job” around…being a parent…a dad.

The Basics of Daddin'