Top 3 Things Geek Dads Need to Learn Quickly when raising kids
Being a geek has suddenly become cool in the modern world with a lot of people embracing things that were frowned upon decades ago. Now that that’s out of the way and as the geeks of the 80s and 90s are already entering a new part of their adult lives, its time to talk about the top 3 things geek dads need to learn quickly when they enter the world of fatherhood aka “raising kids”.
- It’s not always what you want to happen
One of things that geek dads NEED to remember is that what you want doesn’t necessarily what your kids want. Sure you may want them to enjoy the things YOU like but that doesn’t always ring true. Kids will have their own likes and dislikes. It’s easy for us dads to forget that but that’s the truth. You dig Transformers or playing video games but he or she doesn’t like it. D0n’t be frustrated. That’s just how things are. Remember you and your dad didn’t share the same likes and dislikes. Maybe your passion for geek stuff didn’t even come from your parents but from a friend or a relative or from watching too much TV. The point is, even if they don’t like what you’re showing them, they are still your kid and you love each other.
As a side note, don’t give up trying to introduce your passions to your kid. Find the right balance between introducing these things to them and learning to take a step back. There are still a lot of times for you to introduce your fandom. And there’s still a lot of things you can bond over including sports (something not a lot of geek dads like to do).
2. Save Up and continue saving up
What I wasn’t ready for when I started a family was a saving up money. Taking the time to look at online savings calculators can help you see the big picture when it comes to raising a kid or starting a family. The trick however is changing your priorities. I know, it sounds very adult-y but it does ring a lot truth bells. I’m not saying you should stop buying whatever you want whether its comic books or action figures or video games or the latest iPhone. I’m saying that you should focus first on what your family would need. Secure your rent or mortgage payments, groceries and utilities and save a little on your future via insurance and investments and then that’s when you can spend. Again, bookmarking a good online calculator can help speed things up.
3. Share
When you become a dad, especially a geeky dad, you need to drop everything and make everything about your kid and about your family. We already talked about saving up for them and their needs so now its time to talk about sharing with your kids. Sure at the surface the term “sharing” would mean sharing your stuff with them. Yes, we’re talking about the highly valuable stuff in your collection. Let them touch it, let them see it and smell it but don’t let them swallow it. Sharing is the key to making a strong bond with your son or daughter. It will still be up to them to like whatever they are looking at or touching but at least you know you did your part.
On a deeper level though, sharing means different other things.
Share your time with them – Give them the time to play with you and have fun with you and make memories with you.
Share your knowledge – when they ask questions, give them answers. Don’t be annoyed or frustrated about their questions and share knowledge about it. If you don’t know what your daughter or son is asking, then get your smartphone, laptop or tablet and find out together. As the responsible adult though, always have an idea on where to look and keep them from getting exposed to the dark and dirty corners of the Internet and Youtube.
Share your ideals – ideals and principles should be shared to kids at an early age. We all have our own ideals and principles but not all of them are good. Some can be skewed and a odd. On this end, I suggest you stick with the basics for ideals and principles. Share to your kids what respect is; what discipline is; what love is. Things like that but also don’t make it too complicated.
So there you go, the top 3 things geek dads need to learn quickly when raising kids. Do you have any additional stuff to suggest? Leave a comment below and follow me on Instagram and Twitter for more geek news and updates!
