Gyasi Ross: Still learning the ropes of fatherhood

Opinion

Thursday, November 12, 2009

"With every day that passes, I realize more and more that I have absolutely no clue how to be a dad.

I act like I know though. I try to look wise and comfortable/not-completely-awkward while I potty train my boy. “Don’t play with that – it’s not a toy! Wash your hands.”

I can read his mind though, “Practice what you preach, daddy.”

The truth is that I still feel like the 14-year-old who has no idea how to take care of his egg baby in Home Ec class; you know the kid who just kept his egg baby in his locker all week? My first inclination is to think “Who would really know if I dropped him and just replaced it with another egg?” Fortunately, his mother is much more responsible than I am, and that she keeps my Home Ec tendencies in check.

Still, please don’t tell my son (or any other children that I may have in the future) that I’m just making this up as I go. I mean, I am trying to learn from the masters. I steal a bit from my uncles, a bit from Mike Brady, a smidgen from Heathcliff Huxtable, and a whole lot from my grandpas.

I’ll go as far as to say that I’ll be a lot more effective as a grandpa than as a dad. I had incredible grandpas – both of them very involved, strict, and they both knew their ways around a belt. Ouch.

But being a dad? Eh, not so much.

And I don’t think I’m alone."

Get the Story:
Gyasi Ross 23.0 Fruit of my loins: Eggs, optimism and fatherhood (Indian Country Today 11/10)