What does a man need to know Before he has a child?

Before you become a Father, you need to ask yourself, is your child's life, dreams, and success more important to you than your own?

I originally was going to write one of those top ten lists, but I became tired of those when my twelve year old son was only five. What we need to know is that our children do not care about how much money we make, or that we have to get to work on time, or what type of car we drive, or what size house we own. Brace yourself, they care about one thing and one thing only-that is how much time we spend with them.

Before you become a Father, you need to ask yourself, is your child's life, dreams, and success more important to you than your own? You will have to adjust your dreams for theirs. Once you give birth to a child, the responsibility is on you to guide them in the right direction. If a job comes along that doubles your salary but takes you away from home more and more, then who is the job benefiting? It does not benefit the child to have the best bike in the neighborhood, best bat and mitt on the block and favorite hobby, if you are not there to share them. There are Fathers out there reading this and thinking about how alone they felt as a child with the best of everything.

How do you feel when you see a man playing with his son in the park? Yes we all know it is truly what defines us. What you may not see in the park is the sacrifice that is made every minute every second of every day by that Father. It is a sacrifice of ultimate humility. It is an effort of love that brings out the best of us. In our hearts we all want to be the, "Hero" in the comic book. Fatherhood is the hero and our children are the people in distress that lookup and say, "WOW!"

What we need to know before we become Fathers is how important our role and responsibilities are to their well being. Without Fatherhood involvement, our children will be sentenced to failing grades, poverty, social problems, criminal behavior and drug abuse. Our job is to set the tone with structure and discipline. We bring justice and facts along with an example of the way a good man and Father acts. They are always watching us, that is why the sacrifice is consistent. Yesterday I was unable to voice my opinion and yell at a police officer writing me a ticket because I told my children to respect the police. However, if I see that officer again, I will get him a watch so he can see I was not parked that long. Back to writing...

I cannot emphasis how important it is to become comfortable with the commitment and responsibility. Are you comfortable putting off your needs for the needs of your children? Do you have a career that is comfortable for your family and their needs? Do you understand that your child is in danger of failing without your presence? Do you realize that to become a Father is not an act of science but and ordainment from the universe!

What do you need to know before you have a child? Know that you cannot fix everything. Remember that you become a parent the day they are born. Understand that you become a member of the largest fraternity in the world, so ask questions. Realize that you get to live your life over thru theirs. Understand that Disney is nice, but playing catch is free and more memorable. Travel the world first, so then you will have half the answers to the questions they will ask you. Oh no, not a top ten list: