What Sons and Daughters Need from Their Dads

Dads -- I have an assignment for you. (Moms -- feel free to share this post with your husbands.)

1. If you have a son, print the list of 7 Things a Son Needs from His Father. And if you have a daughter, print this list. 
2. Schedule a time to go out with your child (each individually). This can be over a meal, or just an afternoon milkshake.
3. Give your child the list a few days ahead of your scheduled outing. Ask him (or her) to read it, and mark 1 or 2 needs that you are meeting, and 1 or 2 that he (or she) needs you to do more of. (Note that this will probably work best if the child is at least 6 or 7 years old, but the premise can still be useful with younger kids.)
4. Go out, and discuss the list.

This is similar to when I let my kids evaluate me. It's a good idea to do this exercise regularly. For the record, I when I did this assignment recently, all three of my kids (without them discussing with each other) said that I need to do better giving them attention and being present in the moment. Message received.

Who's with me? Will you try this?

Related Link:

• Best and Hardest Things     

**image courtesy of US Navy via Wikimedia