I'm going to be a father, fate willing. My wife shared the news at the very beginning of the year so I've had every hour since then to think about it. I've been wanting to write a few thoughts about raising children as a Stoic. Even though this is my first child, I've had eight years as a child development specialist to get comfortable with the parenting mindset as both an observer and a bit of a surrogate. That said, I don't have any big thoughts today. I just wanted to announce the news!
The one thing I do know is that, in the future, I'll be able to write about being a stoic father, but not about Raising a Stoic Child. Raising a stoic child is impossible, and I'm not even talking about temperament. Stoicism has to be accepted and practiced, it can't be gifted or transferred. I can't tap each shoulder of my daughter (yep, she's a she) with Epictetus' Handbook and say, "rise a Stoic." The best I can do is live as a Stoic, and pass on what I've learned about life. I do know that stoic acceptance of life as it is is invaluable for parenting. Talk about a realm of the unexpected and undesired! It's amazing that parents tend to make it through the early years without being institutionalized. Anyway, I'm going to be a Dad. I'm sure you'll have fun seeing if my practice holds up under a true crucible. Hopefully I will too!
