Fatherhood Survival Tips: Save Your Breath

Once upon a time, we were all kids. And we often didn't listen to our parents. They griped about it, saying things like "you don't listen, do you?".

Ironically, when we grow up and have kids, they don't listen to us. It's clearly the normal way of the world. Why then do we get so frustrated? Maybe that's normal too.

As a dad you have to learn to save your breath. Take my own encounter this morning with stubborn, ignoring girls:

My oldest (11) does the morning school clothes runway walk, "how does this look, dad?"

It looks 2 sizes too small, I think. Instead, I tell her "that's too small."

"But we JUST bought it! I've never worn ot before!" She whines.

Thus begins a lecture about how she and her mother refuse to buy clothes that fit. Instead they rely on numbers and letters to select clothes. I babble on about how I keep telling them to try clothes on, don't just trust the size label, different clothes are cut diff-

I stop.

"You know, I've told you this multiple times before, and you never listen. Why should I keep telling you. I give up. Wear what you want, but don't complain to me about how your clothes fit, later."

Like when they're too tight, and four hours into school they start getting uncomfortable.

Yeah, that saved my blood pressure. I mean, why tell somebody anything more than twice? If they aren't going to listen, they aren't going to listen. Talking louder only works for the hard of hearing.

Father knows best, but nobody listens. That should be every dad's motto. But there's no since being mad about it- it's a fact of life. Accept it, move on, and have a better day.