Daddy Improvement Areas

Since taken early retirement in October, 2007, I've been given the opportunity to spend more time with our daughter, who had just turned three. I've enjoyed not missing precious moments from these early years, which I would have done if I had been working.

With Father's day coming tomorrow, I thought I'd take some time to reflect on how I could have done better. Here's my list of Daddy improvement areas:

More patience. I used to get frustrated when our daughter didn't follow instructions or understand basic concepts. I guess I was overly impressed that she figured out how to use the DVD with little help from us. Therefore, I had high expectations for her in other areas :-)

However, after teaching an after-school program for 1st graders this year, I learned the value of being very specific and repeating instruction. I also learned to slow down and not be frustrated with numerous mistakes.

More mentoring. I need to be in a coaching mode more frequently with our daughter. Right now, I am more in a directive mode when trying to help. I would like to enable her more to think through her challenges by sharing my experiences and judgement. Also, I want her to feel comfortable coming to me in the future for help.

Remembering my commitments. When we talk about things we will do together and I don't remember them in a timely fashion. My daughter's memory is much better than mine and I need to do better.

Of course, I have more than three identified improvement areas :-) However, I have learned improving is takes tremendous effort and working on more than three is typically counterproductive for me. So these will be the priority areas of focus for the next year.

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This is not financial or parenting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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