Father was the only thing in my life that I ever knew I wanted to be. When I was eight years old, I knew I wanted to be a father. I thought I maybe wanted to be a Washington Redskin running back, but I grew out of that. I always know I wanted to be a father. For me, it’s always been the ultimate responsibility. The beginning of the ultimate shadow a man can leave in his life - his children.
A few things. Take responsibility for yourself. Self-reliance. Don’t say can’t. And don’t lie. Now, it’s okay to bullshit, but don’t lie.
I’ve got a great picture of him, right when you come in the house, of him dancing in his underwear. He loved to dance.
And that’s always a fun reminder. The kids know exactly who he is, and understand he’s no longer physically here, but he’s papa. He was Captain Fun. He loved being the host. He loved to cook, and have a beer, and dance, and socialise. He also was a sticker for ‘if you start work at 8am, and you work till 6pm, that doesn’t mean you show up at 8 am. That means you’re on the phone working at 8am. So if you show up at 8 and you’re on the phone at 8.02am, you’re two minutes late. He was very strict about that. And so he instilled a very good work ethic in us.
The one thing that our kids know, that they’re always going to know, is that they’re loved. My mother had a great line: ‘I love you, I don’t like you like that’. So when we got in trouble, we never thought ‘but you don’t love me’. And she used to say: ‘no, I love you, but you’re in trouble right now, because I don’t like what you just did’.
Sure. A man gets better peripheral vision when he becomes a father, because everywhere I go now, I'm here and I’ve got my wife and my two kids in my pocket. So everything I do is a representation back to them. The way I take care of myself, the way we take care, we stay out of trouble, to my own self survive, I'm the king of the household, I'm the dad, I'm the father.
Strict disciplined. We have fun, but there have to be clear rules and we stick to them. My wife and I are on the same page. We don’t play good cop bad cop. We’re on the same page, we’re very bottom line as to how we parent, we’re very clear. The kids know it’s clear so we’re in sync. I wouldn't say strict but disciplined. Rules, you’ve got to follow them, if you don’t follow them, there are consequences.
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