Over the past few weeks honestly, my now 4 year old has completely figured out how to work the TV remotes.  TV, Apple tv, DVD, she can start her own movies, pause them to go get a snack, start them over, skip scenes she doesn’t like…  I don’t know why I was surprised, this is the same kid that at 2 1/2 could work an iPhone better than some adults.

Sometimes I think that she is still so little, then she will do something that just reminds me of how much she is growing.  And it is in these times, that I start wondering, am I doing everything I can to raise her right.  Are my wife and I teaching her the things she needs to know.  I mean she has already informed us that when her next birthday comes she will be in Kindergarten.  She has also told us that she is going to marry this boy at her pre-school, but thats a story for another time.  I also try to make sure that I am spending my time with her wisely.  When we are hanging out together playing am I teaching her the life lessons that will be important later on; sharing, helping others out, being a friend.

Too many times in our world today, our kids get put on the back burner.  As I have said before today, we are all workaholics.  We are plugged in 24/7, if you don’t have your phone within reach you feel lost.  You need to check email – work and personal, you need to check twitter, Facebook, G+….  It’s not that we are intentionally neglecting our kids.  We just miss those extra little things that they do.  I have seen many work emails sent at 8, 9, 10, 11 at night, to me this is prime time with my wife and daughter.  Now I will admit, I am guilty of doing this as well, I have my face buried in my phone playing a game or checking twitter, fb, G+, and not spending that time finding out what my wife has going on at work, what my daughter did at school, etc.  I have been making a concious effort the past few months to leave work at work, now there are exceptions, but from 6 – 12 its McGlone time.

You know, I got upset tonight when my daughter was watching Tinkerbell.  She was watching Great Fairy Rescue, and I couldn’t help but get mad at the little girls dad in it.  I know its just a movie, and honestly that is how they probably wanted you to feel, but it was such an example of our American lives, that we put work ahead of our kids.  We let our kids raise themselves and its time for a change.

I know I just one dad rambling on, but maybe another dad sees this and puts it to practice, and passes it on to another dad.  Kids today need their dads to be there for them.  To be in the house, to be in their lives, and to be a man.  There are too many stories out there of guys that leave after a kid comes into the picture, or has never been around.  I heard on the Steve Harvey radio show a couple weeks ago about a boy 19 years old, with 14 or 15 kids with 14 or 15 different girls.  Now I’m not gonna blame one side or the other, but where were the parents?

It’s stories like this that make me pray everyday that I am the father figure that God has called me to be for my daughter.  And I hope that my influence on her rubs off on her friends, and the other fathers out there.

Good night, God Bless.