Tapping Into Creativity

Today, my little 3 year-old man wanted some grapes. Normal routine when he gets home…he wants a snack. I was preparing dinner as he ate his grapes when he said, “Daddy, I made a field goal”. I acknowledged him and said that was good. A few seconds later he said, “Daddy, I made a square. Do you want to see?” As I continued to prepare dinner, I told him good job again but chose not to go over to him to see the square he made with the grapes. A couple of seconds later, I realized I was not encouraging my son’s creativity at that moment. I immediately asked him,”What did you make now?” He replied, “An 11”. At that point I went over to him to see the “11” he made with the grapes (two grapes side by side). I told him that was a great job and he immediately ate another grape and said that he just made a “1”. It was over at that point.

I know it doesn’t seem as though there is much to this experience I had with my son, but it was a small creative event for him. I realized I should have gone over the first time he asked me if I wanted to see his square. He wanted me to see what he made out of those grapes…he wanted to show me his creativity.

We have to catch those moments of creativity in our kids at an early age and encourage them to continue being creative. Creativity exercises the brain. The more exercise the brain gets, the better it is at functioning. The more functioning it gets, the more knowledge it can take in and give out. I think we would be doing our kids and the world a big favor by encouraging our kids to continue tapping into their creativity.

Sparking that creativity may be the boost that leads them down the road of finding a cure for a disease, publishing a bestselling novel, or becoming one of the highest ranking officials in government. You never know. Let’s just be sure we are not too busy to notice our kids when they are trying to tap into their creativity.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

Acknowledge and Honor the Small Accomplishments

Nothing is more satisfying to a young child than hearing his or her father saying "I am proud of you". These are words that can give lasting confidence to a child.

I found myself giving my youngest son a lot of praise the other night as he continued to learn new words while reading his Thomas the Train book. I was truly proud of his accomplishment and I wanted him to know that. Even though I don't think he knows how much of an accomplishment he is doing at the age of 3, he does know he is doing something good and he was happy when he heard me say that I was proud of him. At that point, he wants to do more of what he just did in order to hear me say again that I am proud of him. Do you see where I am going with this?

As fathers, we need to acknowledge as many things as possible that our children are doing to give them the confidence they need to continue accomplishing activities in their young lives. And don't wait for the big things to happen to acknowledge your child. Honor every little small thing that your child does. All the small acknowledgements build up to make a large bucket of acknowledgements.

This needs to start at birth so that when your child reaches the teenage years, they are overflowing with confidence...they will have the courage to take on any obstacle that may come their way.

While it is good that both parents provide this acknowledgement to the child, it is key that a father does it. A father's approval goes a long way with both sons and daughters.

Give your child the confidence that will last a lifetime.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

Daddy's Little Girl

A new chapter has started in my life and this chapter brings a new perspective to me as a man. Earlier today my daughter was brought into this world. I currently have to boys in the household and I have a clear picture and plan on what I need to do to ensure they leave my house as young men. I now realize that with a little girl in the house, a new plan has to be put in place to ensure she knows what a good man is and that she knows how she is to be treated by a man once she becomes a woman. I must say that there is a strong sense of protection that I feel I must provide with my daughter and I know that I will do everything in my power to ensure she is protected along with my other children and my wife.

As a "true" father, I vow to love, provided, protect, and pray for my little bundle of joy for life.

All my love to little "Addy"...daddy's little girl.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

Teach Your Son to be a Man

I have two boys in my household. What does that mean to me? That means I have the responsibility of ensuring they leave my household on a path to become a better man than I am…a better father to their children…a better spouse to their wife…a better contributor to society…a better follower of God. Many of us these days may not want to take on that responsibility. This is something that we must do. If we don’t, what is the repercussion?

As the father of a son, each day should be a day of teaching. I was listening to a popular radio morning show yesterday morning and they were talking about men not being involved in their children’s lives…in some cases this being the preference of the mother. As men, we should not allow something like this to even be an option. As a true man and true father, you should always demand to be in your son’s life no matter what the situation. It is only thru your presence will your son learn how to treat a woman…how to be a leader amongst other men…how to be manly.

Let us take control of what we are destined to do with our sons. We have to lift this load off of the mother of our son. The mother is not equipped mentally, physically, nor spiritually to truly raise a boy to be a man. Only a man can do this…this is how God intended it to be.

Let’s not disappoint!

Don't forget; send me those T.R.U.E. Father pics of you and the kids to post on the blog.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

The Gift of Life...Continuing to be a Father

I quickly want to share my good news on this blog. With marriage, some couples choose to grow their family while others choose not to. Well, I just want to say that my wife and I will be growing our family by one. Sometime next summer, a new blessing will be added to the Wells' household.

I anticipate the next 7 or 8 months being another interesting journey. I know there is a lot to be learned during this process...as it was during the other pregnancy 4 years ago. I look forward to whatever comes...especially the daily husband to-do-list :(

I think I will share some of my ongoing pregnancy experiences over these next months. It will be therapeutic to me to get some things off my chest...whether anyone listens or not :)

That's all. Just wanted to share my news.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

Signs That You are Doing a Good Job as a Father

I want to throw something at you to think about. How do you know if you are doing a good job as a father? Should we depend on others to tell us? Do we ask someone for feedback on how we are doing? These are good ways to get a feel on where you stand as a father, but feedback from others may be bias and sometimes over-opinionated. So how do you know?

Look internal. You look at yourself. Look at your actions. Look at your feelings. Look at your kid’s responses. Let me quickly explain. When you come home from work or you pick your kid up from daycare or school, what is your kid’s reaction when he or she sees you? My little man screams out DADDY each time I come home or when I pick him up from daycare. I can’t even explain how good that makes me feel. It truly makes me feel as though I am doing something right to get a response like that from him every day.

Next, how do you feel when you are away from you children for an extended period or when you miss one of your kid’s activities? If you feel nothing, then you need to check yourself to determine how involved you are in your kid’s life. If your kids remain constantly on your mind or you truly feel bad that you missed the activity, then that means you are and would like to be in every part of your kid’s life…acknowledging you are doing a good job as a father (even though you missed the event).

Lastly, how much do your kids like to hang out around you? Do they want to follow you around? Do they try to imitate things that you do? These are keys that tell you that you are making an impression on your kids. Just make sure you are doing positive things for your kids to imitate.

So I ask you now..."Are you doing a good job as a father?” Take a look at yourself and the actions of your kids to determine if you are doing all you can do to be a good father. If not, then step it up. If so, then keep the momentum going. We need to do all we can to ensure we produce a solid next generation.

I am going to leave you with that for now. Let me know if you are doing a good job as a father.

Don't forget; send me those T.R.U.E. Father pics of you and the kids to post on the blog.

Be strong and talk to you soon.

Happy Father's Day

I just want to wish all the fathers out in the world...fathers that are active in their kids lives, fathers that are not active in their kids lives, fathers that want to be active in their kids lives, and soon to be fathers... a Happy Father's Day weekend. I pray that you take time this weekend to reflect on the responsibility and the blessing that God has entrusted you with...your child/children. I pray that many people call you this weekend to congratulate you and thank you for handling your business of fatherhood. For many, this is your first Father's Day...ENJOY IT!!! We don't get any other days of honor so we have to take advantage of this day. Try to do something special for yourself. A friend of mine told me that he goes out for a round of golf with a few other fathers he knows to celebrate the weekend. Whatever you do, do it with pride and enjoyment. And don't forget to thank God for another year as a Father!

Be strong and talk to you soon.

*** Don't forget to email pics of you and your kids for display in the "T.R.U.E. Pics" section. Email the pictures to cedricwells7@gmail.com . ***