One of the best pieces of marriage advice I ever read came from Dr. Scott Haltzman. In his book, The Secrets of Happily Married Men, Haltzman put it this way:
“Be Home Now. To win your wife’s heart and build a lasting marriage, you have to be there, in person, day by day, Mr. Regular, at home, in the building -- and that’s that.”
Most advice about how to be a good father assumes that the guy is right there, too. They already assume that the man is present every day, up for midnight feedings, teaching the kids to throw a ball, reading to them, brushing their teeth, respecting their mom.
If you want to be a good dad, the first rule is that you gotta be there.
But, um, by definition, our military husbands work long hours. They are rarely in charge of their own schedules enough to accommodate school schedules and dentist appointments or even midnight feedings.
And then there is the fact that they are gone. A lot. Sometimes they are in the field or at sea for a couple of weeks or months. Sometimes they are gone for a year or more at a time. So does that mean that they aren’t good dads? That they can't be good dads?
That’s what we want to know from you. Secretly, in your heart of hearts, do you think your husband is a good dad?
Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life
For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.
