Developing a special bond with a child has always been an easy thing for me to do, being that I am an elementary physical education teacher and coach. You get to see a child grow from kindergarten all the way through upper elementary, then follow them as they go through middle school, high school and even college. I have had the privilege of knowing thousands of kids in my teaching career and have even watched some of them have their own kids along the way.
I now am grateful that I started that same special bond with my own daughter just over four years ago. From her first cry when she was born, I was already in love with her. My wife and I have always known how we would raise a son or daughter and I love the fact that we get to teach her everything for as long as we’re here on Earth. Sometimes I forget that children have to learn every skill for every single thing they do across their day. Parents cannot just assume their child already knows how to hold a marker or throw a ball. Children need to be taught how to do so many important things. By teaching them the fundamentals, they learn to trust you and start developing that special bond that only a parent and child have.
I have a love for all sports, and I want my daughter to try as many sports in her young age as she can to see what she likes. I will never force her into something she doesn’t want to do though and I want her to enjoy things each time she participates. She has already been involved in gymnastics, dance, soccer, swimming and t-ball. I feel like as she gets older, she looks to me like a role model, someone who is there to help and guide her, and to also love her unconditionally. I love her when she succeeds and fails and I try to encourage her and build her up when she gets discouraged. Once she realizes she is able to accomplish a task, she gets ecstatic about it and wants to try again and again!
This also holds true of anything we do outside of sports. My daughter loves to read, play Barbie’s, catch bugs, ride bikes, roller skate, do sidewalk chalk, play bubbles, sandbox, and play hide and seek. She does the same things every kid does. She is always looking for something fun for all three of us to do together. I love that she WANTS to play with us! She loves to show us what she has learned and that makes me very proud, as she has learned many things we’ve taught her very quickly.
My wife and I don’t spend a lot of time by ourselves. We are always spending time as a family. I feel that the bond we have developed is the reason for that. If we didn’t start the bonding process at an early age, we would be struggling to form that bond now. Don’t get me wrong, not all times are happy times—there are many times of struggling through the stages in life, which can make you wonder what you did wrong. But even with all of the hardships, I would not trade it for anything in the world! As a four-year old, my daughter doesn’t fully understand just how much I love her , but hopefully she always feels it, no matter what!
**Special thanks to our Guest Blogger, Eric Glanz, for sharing his fatherhood perspective with us!
Well-written, Eric! You are an amazing dad! We are so proud of all of you! And we, too, love watching K try new things. Most of ours is in the kitchen or the garden, but we always get the same response–“I can do it!” And she does! Keep sharing!