During the season I work long days. Monday through Sunday I am coming home late from practices or games, traveling from state to state with short stops back to be with my family. Being able to spend more intentional family time with my wife and kids during the off-season is really important to me.

I know my kids miss me during the season, and I miss them. During these months I’m able to be there for them all the time, taking them to school in the morning and picking them up in the afternoon. They get to have their dad bring them to and from swim practice or take them on trips to the park. This daddy time is extremely important to them, and to me.

My father set a really good example of what a father’s love should really look like. He instilled in both me and my brother a strong work ethic, but also a knowledge to respect rules and discern right from wrong—we always knew what we should and shouldn’t do. In addition to teaching us the right way to live, my dad was really involved in our lives. Since my dad worked an hour away from our home, my brother and I would eagerly wait for him to come home so that he could take us to our sports’ practices, which he also coached. Being out on the practice field with him, whether that was baseball, basketball, or football, we learned how to enjoy sports while also becoming disciplined in our work. These lessons of self-discipline have carried me throughout my athletic career and also translated into other aspects of my life.

My dad also emphasized the importance of education, making sure we took our school seriously. He said that as a student athlete, the student part should always come first. Because of that, I ended up getting really good grades in high school and college, and I continued on to get my degree even when people told me I wouldn’t need to since I was going to the NFL.

My dad really invested in my brother and me. He was present with us and got to know who we were—what we were interested in and who we wanted to be. In the same way, I want to be present with my children. When I’m with them (especially during the season when I come home from work), I need to put my phone down. It’s easy to get lost in social media, getting caught up in everyone else’s lives, but becoming caught up in the lives of my kids is so much more rewarding. No matter what they like to do—dancing, playing sports, or just being silly—I want to be interested in that too. A lot of parents have no idea what their kids are into because they don’t talk to them, they only talk at them. I don’t want our relationships to be one-sided, with me simply telling them what to do or what not to do. I love listening to my kids. If you have a conversation with a child, they will talk to you. They love it when you get to know who they really are and who they want to be.

My kids are so much fun. I remember back to my childhood and what I loved to do and that’s what I do with my kids. Just like her daddy did, my four-year-old daughter loves playing hide-and-seek. She also loves playing with her play kitchen set or helping her mom prepare meals for our family. I love taking my kids to the park and watching them run around and play, or teaching them how to ride their bikes, training wheels and all. What I love most of all is putting a smile on their face, and I aim to discover more ways of doing that.

A daddy’s love is important. I don’t take that lightly, and I find so much joy in fulfilling that role in my kids’ lives.

—Matt Forte

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” —Proverbs 22:6

Matt Forte is a regular contributor of The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

Check out Matt’s Increase profile here: http://theincrease.com/author/matt-forte/   

 
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