Welcome to Portraits of Fatherhood: We’re telling the story of today’s dads.
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There is no better place to witness the changing roles of men and women in the larger culture than through the lens of parenthood. But rather than speculate on what and how contemporary fathers do what they do, we’d like to bring you portraits of the dads themselves. In their own words. Would you like to be interviewed for this feature? See the end of the post for details.
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NAME Matthew Orlando
AGE 35
HOMETOWN / WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? New Jersey, United States
@TWITTER @TheRunnerDad
ON THE WEB http://www.therunnerdad.com
NUMBER OF CHILDREN Two (ages 3 and 1)
WORK Full-Time
RELATIONSHIP STATUS Married
HOW DO YOU COMBINE WORK AND FAMILY?
Balancing work and family is definitely not always an easy thing. By nature we want to do what we enjoy most, which is, for me, spending time with my wife and kids. Work of course is necessary to support my family, so I try to find joy in what I do so that the time I have to spend away from my family is well spent. Thankfully we have been blessed in that my wife works from home so she can spend time at home raising our boys when I am at work, and in the evenings and on the weekends I try to squeeze in as much quality time with them as possible, while still balancing well-spent time on exercising and self-improvement. Even that time spent is aimed at being a strong role model for my two boys.
WHAT IS YOUR WORST PARENTING MOMENT?
I would say that it is less a moment and more of a state of mind. I let myself get stressed out sometimes that I cannot do all that I want to do in the time I want to do it because my children demand so much of my time. I love my kids, but when I forget that parenting is all about being selfless I find myself having little patience for them and getting angry over little, insignificant things.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST PARENTING MOMENT?
Honestly, just seeing and spending time with my boys. Waking them up in the morning. Having breakfast with them on the weekends. Being greeted by them when I get home from work for the day. Playing with them, watching them learn and experience new things. It is an amazing journey, and I am thankful that I am able to spend it with them.
We’re looking for a few good dads.
IF you’d like to be interviewed for this feature, please write to Lisa Duggan at: [email protected]
Please write “Portraits of Fatherhood” in the subject line.