by Nathan Schwepler

Created on: July 29, 2008

I am a better dad than you. As a blatant competitive taunt, I'm going to tell you half of what I do, and you still won't come close. To succeed as a dad, do just two things that no other men are doing: see and inspire.

All of the boys want to win every time. Grown men are just as competitive, but most of them have learned to be sort of nice about it. Men also learn that as bad as they want to win, in some arenas they have no chance. That doesn't remove the competitive drive, it just moves it. Men keep searching for something that they can win. It might be just one moment.

At the softball game, I wasn't the guy that hit the homerun into the woods, but I won one moment when I slipped past the shortstop and added an extra base to my little hit. Besides little moments, men look for new things to win. It took me a while, but I finally found mine.

I couldn't throw hard enough to make it as a little league pitcher and I was too short and slow for the basketball court, so I tried my legs out as a distance runner. It was better. The ones that I beat were more than the ones that beat me, but still I was not the best. I couldn't conquer the world through politics or wealth. I am still hoping to be the best children's author in the world, but so far my writing has earned $826 and that Rowling lady is on the Forbes Billionaire List. All men want to be the best at something; few ever get close. But I made it. I am a better dad than any you. I am the best on the planet, and as a blatant competitive taunt, I'm going to tell you half of what I do, but you still won't come close.

I am not joining the common debates about daycare, discipline, bedtime, or busyness. To succeed as a dad, do just two things that no other men are doing: see and inspire.

When I am with my children, I remember that the task of parenting is the most important thing in my life. Do you really have something better to do than to influence your own children?

Few men can answer "no" to that, but you need to. Your turn is over. You don't get to be first in line any more. It is your kid's turn.

Dads give their kids only partial attention and see only 25% of what happens under their watch. I sat on my patio with another dad and watched his kid throw sticks into my little waterfall. After ten sticks, this dad noticed and responded with a loud, dramatic voice, "Do not throw anything in there, Son! Go play on the swings." The child looked at his dad and looked at the swings. He looked from the waterfall to the sticks

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