Dads And Sons

A boy looks to his dad for clues of what it is to be a man.

My identical nephews are a classic case. They are about 3 years old, and they found their dad’s razor in the bathroom. After some quiet moments, they came running to their mother (my Baby Sister) with blood seeping from their lips.

After trying to keep from freaking out for a moment, Baby Sister took them in hand. The boys wore band-aids on their lips for the rest of the day.

Baby Sister Instant Messaged me later, to tell me about it. Our banter went something like this:

ME: I guess they will grow up to have full beards now.
BABY SIS: Or scabby lips.

This hasn’t even phased their quest to be like dad.

They are preacher’s kids like mom and their uncle. Bless their little hearts. They insist on wearing neckties during every waking moment, and one of them always wants to wear his “pretty shoes.” Those are his black dress shoes. He gets very upset if they are even dusty.

Every boy still seeks to be like dad. They are looking to him to know what it is to be a man, and they want to know if they have what it takes to be a real man. Every boy’s heart is ultimately vulnerable to his father. One thoughtful or thoughtless word can change a boy’s direction for life.