Editor’s Note: Orlando Dads Group co-organizer Flor Mercado spoke at the recent Dad 2.0 Summit as a featured “Spotlight” reader. He read this piece advising divorced/single fathers raising children, especially daughters, to the audience in Washington, D.C. A version of this piece first appeared on his website Dad Style 99. Getting divorced is something no one plans on when they get married. Having a child in that marriage adds a whole different level of challenges. This is a difficult step for either parent to go through. All you can do is hope to have a civil, respectful relationship … [Read more...]
Divorced Dad Worries about Legacy of Loving Left for Sons
I see what I want for my own children: always to have love in their lives ... whether that be in a monogamous, lifelong relationship or whether their evolutions take them on journeys with multiple partners — or other forms I can’t even imagine. _____________ I have been to a couple of weddings in the past few months. As one who has been married and divorced twice, I have felt myself wince each time when the couples pledged to be together for life. The wince registers on many levels. An abiding sense of failure on my part, particularly with my second marriage. I have two sons, now ages 10 … [Read more...]
When My Child Becomes Our Child
Editor’s Note: City Dads Group is proud to occasionally feature writing from members of The Handsome Father, a support community that helps connect, prepare and inspire gay fathers. In this piece, Patrick Roth writes about letting his new husband into his daughter's life. I was a single parent during my daughter’s preschool years. It was a period of transition for us. We moved from the West Coast to the Midwest, contracted to build our first house and learned to live with the new dynamic of single dad and his little girl. I can remember tucking her in, reading bedtime stories and … [Read more...]
Paternal Instinct Exists … Even in Gay Men
Editor’s Note: City Dads Group is proud to occasionally feature writing from members of The Handsome Father, a support community that helps connect, prepare and inspire gay fathers. In this piece, Jim Joseph writes about his desire to be a father. It’s always struck me funny how we tend to automatically give women credit for having maternal instinct. We grant it automatically; it’s just a part of our culture. With men, however, it’s been almost the complete opposite. We rarely credit men with paternal instinct, and it’s only after we’ve witnessed a super-human effort from the guy … [Read more...]
Being a Better Long-Distance Parent
Being a long-distance parent takes the parenting difficulty level up to 11. I only recently discovered this. My wife and I didn't get a divorce, but I did take a job halfway across the country. My family is living back in California while I get life ready for all of us here in Oklahoma. This distance is only temporary, but I am smack in the middle of being separated from my family for five weeks. For some of you that might not be a big deal, but for me it is heart wrenching. I feel like half of me is still in California with them. Some of these feelings might come from my parents' … [Read more...]