What advice would you have for a first time father who didn’t have a great father figure while growing up?

Take it as it comes. Be consistent. Be there. My son came along unexpected and his mom was a piece if work. She bailed when he was two and it was me and him. I was 24 and had zero clue. Did it on my own and figured it out as I went. My dad was there but not present. This was around Gulf War tiem frame and my Reserve unit had A10s and we were hot for deployment and added to the stress. Never got the call thankfully and the only family we had was 800 miles away. Take a deep breathe and enjoy it. It goes quick.

Any other advice?

SGT Rick Colburn SGT (Join to see) CMSgt (Join to see) LTC (Join to see) SSG David Andrews SCPO Morris Ramsey Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. LTC Greg Henning PO2 Rick Fox Sgt Albert Castro CPT Scott Sharon MSgt Danny Hope LTC Stephan Porter TSgt David L. Cpl Craig Marton SMSgt Thor Merich SGT Gregory Lawritson MSgt David Hoffman SFC Craig Dalen CWO3 Dennis M.

Just the fact that you are thinking about it is a plus for you. There are some great parenting classes out there. Boystown parenting which has been taught by our military social worker comes to mind but there are a number of them. Consistency is important. You are a parent and a role model. Don't try to be your child's best friend

Dont try to hard and start early. Dont get mad over the little stuff and tell your kid, its okay. Do stuff together and teach him the important things. Balance the friendship and the teacher. Being a parent just means your kid does alright by themselves. You dont have to scold them all day everyday for them to do that. Its the lessons and explanations of why that are more important. If they dont get it, say “i dont know what do you think”. (Especially handy in the “why” phase). You’ll do great. Its not that hard. Cant really mess up that bad, look how you turned out, great.