When’s The Last Time You Hugged Your Children?

Have you hugged you kids today? I don’t mean hugged them, I mean really hugged them.

It doesn’t matter the relation. Biological, adopted, foster, or guardianship, the question remains the same: have you hugged your kids today?

Not like it’s an obligation and they’re an inconvenience, but like it’s an honor and they’re a blessing. And I’m not talking about the usual fleeting hugs you give them as you rush off to work, I’m talking about the hugs that remain with them long after you’ve left.

Do you hug them with such singularly focused determination that they feel completely safe, loved beyond measure, and blissfully unaware of their own mortality? Hugs that help them rise above all the fears and insecurities that their little hearts secretly harbor?

Do you grip them so deeply that they feel nothing bad could befall them as long as they remain in your embrace? That they are sheltered from the chaos of a wicked world that’s gone mad around them?

Do you hug them so passionately that in your arms is the only place they want to be? That when they grow older they’ll look back on those hugs and long to be in that moment with you again?

Continue reading here.

The best thing you’ll see all day.

Wives . . . Father’s Day is coming up.

Just sayin’.

The nocturnal infant.

They grow up so fast.

Quotes: Forever open.

Quotes: Family.

Work and family.

Repost: The 20 Best Country Songs About Fathers.

A great list from 2 years ago that’s worth sharing again:

The 20 Best Country Songs About Fathers

Fathers and sons: Yeah, it’s exactly like that.

Don’t let your creativity be stifled.

Co-sleeping? Hardly.

It hurts no matter who you are.

Four fantastic fishing songs to kick off your Father’s Day festivities.

Fatherhood is synonymous with fishing, and what better way to kick off the Father’s Day weekend than with four fantastic fishing songs? Enjoy.

Huntin’ & Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day: Luke Bryan

Maddie & Tae: Shut up and Fish

I’m Gonna Miss Her: Brad Paisley

(She Thinks We’re) Just Fishin’: Trace Adkins

For more great songs, see The 20 Best Country Songs about Fathers.

 

Your ability to grow facial hair does not make you a man or even a grown up.

Heroes and first loves.

Selfie.

Hey moms and dads, if this is the only selfie your kids know, be encouraged, you’re doing it right.

You will never have this day with your children again. Ever.

Despite not knowing the difference between then and than, this is still a very sobering reminder.

Wishing I was half the dad my kids thought I was.

Today we celebrate fathers. Today my family celebrates me. Today will be bittersweet.

Firstly, I had no father to celebrate when I was a wee lad.

Young boys growing up without a dad miss out on so many experiences that contribute to a healthy upbringing. I was no exception.

And what makes it harder to accept is that it didn’t have to be that way; he chose for it to be that way. All these years later I still bear that scar. It’s a wound that time has never healed and the weight of which my own wife and children have no idea that I carry.

Secondly, for me this day shines a light on my failures as a father, laying them bare and raw.

Today I will receive accolades and handmade cards with misspelled words telling me I’m the best dad in the world. But the truth is, I know I’m not . . . not even close . . . and that pains me terribly.

So today, while my family showers me with flowery platitudes, I will be troubled inside. I will be wishing I could be a better father and husband, and wondering if I would have been, if only my dad had stuck around to be that example.

Today, more than any other, I will be reminded that if I was half the dad my kids thought I was, I’d be doing all right.

For everyone else . . . Happy Father’s Day.

The 20 best country songs about fathers.

There are few musical genres that contain so many songs on fatherhood like country music. It’s from this genre that I’ve compiled my Top 20 Countdown of songs about dads.

Even if you’re not a fan of country music, if you’re a fan of dads, you’ll find many treasures below.

Some of these songs are old, some are new; some are about happy times, some are about regrettable times; some are about adoption, some are about loss, some are upbeat and will put a smile on your face, some will tear your heart out and leave you reaching for a tissue.

Happy Father’s Day to all those dads who got it right, and even those who didn’t.

20 – The Dollar
Jamey Johnson

19 – Till I Was a Daddy Too
Tracy Lawrence

18 – Walk a Little Straighter
Billy Currington

17 – The Greatest Man I Never Knew
Reba McEntire

16 – He Walked on Water
Randy Travis

15 – Who’s That Man?
Toby Keith

14 – It Won’t Be Like this for Long
Darius Rucker

13 – My Front Porch Looking In
Lonestar

12 – Just Another Day in Paradise
Phil Vassar

11 – You’re Gonna Miss This
Trace Adkins

10 – Just Fishin’
Trace Adkins

09 – I Loved Her First
Heartland

08 – Wish I Could’ve Been There
John Anderson

 

07 – Daddy Let Me Drive
Alan Jackson

06 – He Didn’t Have to Be
Brad Paisley

05 – Best Day of My Life:
George Strait

04 – Watching You
Rodney Atkins

03 – Cinderella
Steven Curtis Chapman

02 -The Car
Jeff Carson

01 – There Goes My Life
Kenny Chesney

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