Brilliant dad feature week 59
This week our brilliant dad is Sean from New England. He is a divorced single dad of four. They are a family that loves soccer, scouts, hiking, fitness and some of them like gymnastics. Then there is their new camping experience and a newly sparked desire to travel since life can be good as a divorced or married Dad and it really is what we create. Sean blogs at Divorced Single Dad Life.
Thank you very much to Sean for taking part.
1. Have you always wanted to be a dad?
Honestly as a youth, I didn’t know how to interact with little children. My marriage began with my former wife and her son. From that point the family grew. I never really thought about being a dad when I was younger, however now I am fully fledged totally devoted single dad of four one boy and three girls, the oldest being my stepson who is now grown up and a dad himself.
2. How did you feel when your children were born?
When my first born arrived I rate that as life-changing. Being a firefighter – paramedic and a member of the military reserve component it truly shifted how I saw things in the world. It was an overwhelming yet positive experience. Even more overwhelming though was when twin girls arrived about 4 years later. This was busy and hectic and a lot to do. Lots of good lots of stress but we made it through. When our youngest arrived it felt like old hat at that point I mean after twins 1 was a cake walk.
3. What have been your most rewarding experiances so far as a dad?
The most rewarding experience I believe are yet to come. However when your children do good things on a consistent basis and are good to each other and other people. That is a good feeling. It is good to know they are developing right. At the ages of 16, 13, 13, and 11 and they still play and laugh together. That is rewarding. Icing on the cake is when biggest brother shows up and he is outside playing pass with everyone or nerf gun wars. This is good this is when you know all the parenting work has paid off.
4. What some of the funniest moments to have happened to you as a dad?
I am a pretty straight forward sort of personality,and don’t joke a whole maybe a bit here and there. So I think that’s a part of my life I need to work on.
We have normal horseplay and goofing around, it is rare that the kids are unhappy
Allthough thinking about it one of the funniest moments was when I pranked my oldest with a Halloween mask I had it hanging up when he walked in the door and scared him and his friends very funny.
5. Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
There have been several difficult and challenging situations for the children to cope with. The hardest one being when mom decided to move out. They were all 5 years younger than they are now and it was a challenge to keep them happy, difficult to find the words to explain it all. Also summer 2014 we lost their mothers Mom, Gramma and this past October we lost my Mom, Nana. There were tears and sadness they rely on each other especially the twins, with that twin thing, and they will all support each other, well and tease each other, when they need to. We are at this point hoping for a good run of years without challenging situations.
6. What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
My hopes and dreams for my children is that they will be able to pursue their dreams. That they stay true to themselves as they pursue life. I want them to find freedom in life and live wiser and have more fun than I have. I encourage them as much as possible to be individuals. I make it clear to them that anything they put their mind to is possible and I encourage them to not stop dreaming to not stop drawing and imagining. I really just want happiness for them in whatever positive way they can find it.
