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Great infographic: 23 things for a dad to teach his son

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Al Ferguson from The Dad Network UK has come up with his all time list of 23 things he wants to teach his son.

I might not know everything there is to know and the boy might not fully understand why he is learning what I decide to teach him… But I’m sure he’ll thank me at some point in his life.

There’s something special about dads teaching their sons invaluable skills for getting through life. When I found out I was having a son, all the wonderful, both practical & emotional, essential life skills that I will need to teach him flashed before my eyes. Amongst other things, I could see the two of us calmly sitting on a log, pen knives in hand and me teaching him to always cut away from your body and to keep your fingers out the way.

There are so many things that I simply can’t wait to teach my son and so I’ve compiled them into a list of 23 things:

23 valuable things I think you’ll agree! He won’t get far through life without these essential things which is why it’s important for me to teach my son them! He’ll be fine now if he has to use reef knot to repair his bike so he can cycle to collect his car to drive to his girlfriends in a blue shirt without headphones in and gets caught in the wilderness having to hunt for his own food. Absolutely fine… And he’ll be polite to any bears that try to attack him too!

—Photo: Flickr/Poppofatticus 

You can follow Al’s fatherhood adventures at www.thedadnetwork.co.uk of follow him on twitter @thedadnetworkuk.

To mark the launch of the film Down Dog, insideMAN is running a series of articles about fatherhood throughout February and we’d love you to get involved. You can join the conversation on twitter by using the hashtag #MenBehavingDADly; leave a comment in the section below or email us with your thoughts and ideas for articles to insideMANeditor@gmail.com.

For more information about the film see www.downdogfilm.com

 

  • Paul Mills

    Al, I love this list – and it’s refreshing to have something a bit lighter to reflect on. I am happy to say that me an the boys are well through lots of your points – though not quite at the girlfriend stage yet – for which moment Hazel and I have a list of ‘ do you remember when….’ stories and uncompromising photo’s to show ?

    A couple of ‘fails’ for me are, 1: Hands in pockets – probably a rebellion from school and 2: I have several pink shirts – only joking!

    Of real value are the holding hands and mum ones. We have a rule that mum should only be woken with a cup of tea – unless you want a flat ‘NO’ – allied to this is; if mum and dads bedroom door is closed only knock or enter if someone is dying or the house is burning down! . We also hold hands as a family all the time, even when driving. and love to show our affection for each other.

    If I were to add a point 24 It would be that this is not the rehearsal for life – it’s the real thing and we only get the one chance!

    paul

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003469731792 Aditya

    Thank you Buzz for sayin’ it!! Holy smokes, do these pelope need to settle down and get a grip on their own reality! Of course we love our kids equally and all that blah blah blah. You know what? This week my son is my favorite! That right ladies! I definitely prefer the company of my 11 year old son over my 19 year old daughter! Any mother with a teenage daughter will fully understand what I’m talkin’ about! However, last week, when she wasn’t on a hunt for her inner b*tch, she was my favorite. Next week? Depends on my mood, their mood and the mood of the household. Any mother, with living children, goes through this and they’re lyin’ if they say different. I can’t imagine that my friends with kids and I are (and I include them all w/o exception) alone in this world. And thank you again Buzz for reminding us that Daddies are no different! Way to go for being the thought provoking writer that you are. You definitely provoked some words that are stickin’ in the craw of a few who just might be in denial.