GUEST DAD: Tyson Stiles (Cleveland, OH)

I am Tyson Stiles, a 30 year old single, soon-to-be married, father of the hippest 4 year old boy ever, my son Trynter.  We are from the Cleveland, OH area, which basically means we spend most of our time indoors staying dry, shoveling snow, playing Batman and Robin, making music, and wrestling.  This is a little post about what it means to me to be a father.

Someone once told me that kids just want your time.  It’s really that simple; give your sons and daughters your time.  In our life that means dressing up for Halloween together, dive bombing off of my bed (no major injuries…yet), or maybe veg’ing out and playing some video games.  The activity itself doesn’t really matter; what matters is that we spend time with our children.    

Being a single father has had its rough moments and I do believe it’s helped in creating a huge bond between my son and I that may not have been as strong otherwise.  We’ve now spent many hours together over the past 3 years and that bond grows tighter and tighter every day.  Just recently I was finally able to bring Tryn with me to one of my band’s concerts (we played a youth retreat…he doesn’t go to the bars with me!) and we had a total blast.  It was such a special moment for me to look out in the crowd and see my son dancing with a glow stick waving above his head, rocking out to his dad’s tunes.  Want to know the best part though?  When we’re driving along, heading to wherever, I hear this four year old voice in the backseat of my car saying “Hey Dad?  Remember your concert where you played guitar and I was dancing?  That was super cool”.  My heart melts because I know (since I was a son once myself…) that specific memory is burned into his soul.  

Dads:  we are larger than life to our children.  Our sons and daughters will never have a bigger influence in their lives, no greater impression will ever be made, and no one could possibly replace you.  Continue to be there for your children, be the sidekick, be the punching bag, and be the largest person at the tea party.  Most importantly, continue to be there.

If you'd like to read more from Tyson please visit his blog "Live.Love.Appreciate". Tyson is also in the band The Hearts which rule, check em out!