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You are here: Home / Archives for fatherhood

Father’s Lessons

June 14, 2017 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

At day’s end, Randy would throw his extra change in a grey, ceramic tray on top of his dresser.

He considered the change “found money” and periodically cashed it in as a “fun fund.”

“That’s odd,” he thought, “all the quarters are missing.”

Sadly, he realizes that Sean, his 11-year-old son, must have taken them; obviously no one broke in and stole $3.75 in change. Now comes the bigger question: What to do?

Being a single dad, the decision was his alone. He thought back to his own childhood, about what his father would have done. “No, spanking is out of the question,” he decides. His strongest memories of his own father are fear; “That is not what I want Sean to remember about me.”

He calls out, “Sean, I need to talk to you.”

“What’s up Dad?” Sean says as he enters the room. 

“I’ve got a problem,” he replies. “I had a bunch of quarters in this tray,” tapping on the edge of ceramic dish, “They’re not there anymore.  I don’t know what happened.”

He pauses; giving his son a chance to admit to his error. Will he make the correct choice? The silence is loud; he knows it’s got to be deafening for his boy. After a moment, Sean meekly volunteers, while staring at the floor, “I took one.” The lump in his throat is audible.

“One?”

Pause “Maybe two.” Longer pause. “It could have been three.”

Randy recalls his own youth; the fear in admitting wrong-doing; his dad explosively red with fury, screaming at Randy inches from his face.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: family, Holidays, Intentions, Newspaper Column, Relationships Tagged With: children, fatherhood, fathers and sons, fathers day, parenting, parenting skills

Honoring Fathers

June 12, 2017 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

In honor of Father’s Day this coming Sunday…

My first book (and my most popular book in terms of sales) is called “The Shade of a Tree is the Very Best there is.” I wrote it when my oldest son (now 33) was moving out on his own. I wanted him to have all the wisdom I could possibly impart on him. The book consists of 135 motivational quotes for all occasions. I’ve been flattered that some groups use it as a weekly lesson guide to start a conversation.

(Truth be told, I don’t know how good the advice was because he moved back in a few years later. ?)

Anyway…

Two pieces of advice from my book: [Read more…]

Filed Under: family, Holidays, Motivational Monday, Personal, Relationships, Traditions Tagged With: dad, family, fatherhood, fathers and sons, fathers day, memories

Video: Calls for Dad

June 15, 2014 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

OK, I’ll admit I have a bias.

Having been a single dad for many years, I never felt that good dads got enough credit for what they did (and I was a damn good father). You don’t do it for the praise, but it’s nice to be recognized. On behalf of all the good dads out there – and there are many – Dove has put together this wonderful campaign. Happy father’s day.

Filed Under: family, Holidays, Video Tagged With: advertising, dove, fatherhood, fathers day

Of Fathers and Sons

June 12, 2013 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

In April 1996, I received a phone call from a TTY telephone operator.

She introduced herself and asked if I had ever worked with someone like her.

“No,” I replied.

“On the other end of this line is someone hearing-impaired,” she explained. “When she wants to call someone, she contacts me and then types what she wants to say into a device. It then appears on a screen in front of me. I’ll read it to you. You reply to me. I type it back. It’s a slow process but it allows her to ‘talk’ to you. Ready?”

“Yes,” I replied hesitantly.

She then — in a stilted, halting manner — read the words as they traipsed across her screen. Not waiting for full sentences to appear, she pronounced each syllable as it materialized, like someone reading a news crawler on the bottom of the TV screen; with the caveat being that the text was scrolling too slowly. Not only was it a sluggish process, it was eerie, and unnerving.

“My… name… is… Mary…” read the operator. “I’m… sorry… to… tell… you… that… your… father… has… passed… away…”

Some background is in order.

Over the nine years I’ve been publishing this weekly column, I have written about my wife, mother, children, grandmother, aunts; even my pets. However, there’s a glaring omission: my father.

Obviously, I had one; and yes, I knew him. However, we didn’t get along and my rebellion manifested itself as me growing up to be his polar opposite. Over the years, I invested a great deal in therapy to release myself from the behaviorial bonds that I felt shackled me to a person I did not want to be.

Fathers and sons have had differing viewpoints since Adam and Abel.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: family, Gratitude, Holidays, Inspiration, mental health, Newspaper Column, Self Talk Tagged With: family, fatherhood, fathers and sons, fathers day, forgiveness, letting go

Video about Goal Setting

January 24, 2011 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

In a recent post, I discussed “Five Things to do to be Happier & More Successful Starting Now.” One of those was writing down your goals. (I have even provided a complimentary downloadable goal planner for you.)

Today, on my Facebook feed, my good friend, Scott Hammond of BecomeABetterFather.com posted this 90 second video tied to the same thing. The information is good and I always enjoy supporting my friends. Check it out. (He too has posted a goal planner; it’s probably not as good as mine, I’m sure it’s valuable! Just joking of course…)

🙂

Filed Under: goals, planning, Success, Video Tagged With: fatherhood, friends, goal planner, parenting, scott hammond

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