How dads shape kids

`By Dr James Dobson

Someone once said: “If you connect a boy to the right man, he seldom goes wrong.” I fully believe that adage to be true. If a dad and a child can develop some common interests together, the rebellious years shouldn’t be all that troubling.

I had that kind of father myself. I recalled the happiest moments of my childhood — how my Dad would get up very early on a wintry morning, pull on our hunting clothes and head 30 km out of town to our favourite place. We’d park the car, climb over the fence and follow a little creek to an area I called “the big woods”. Then we’d wait for the sun to come up, listening to the squirrels, birds and the chipmunks, and let the entire panorama of nature unfold before us.

Those moments together with my Dad were priceless to me. How could I have gotten angry at this man who took the time to be with me? There was a closeness that made me want to be like him; to choose his values and dreams as mine. That’s the power of a man to set a kid on the right road.


From TODAY, Voices - Wednesday, 28-April-2010
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