Our 294th Dad in the Limelight is Rob Loftus. I want to thank Rob for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing him with all of you.
1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)
My name is Rob, and I am currently a SAHD for my daughter and son. I blog under the Name Ask a Great Dad on wordpress and have made guest contributions to Dads Round Table online parenting Magazine. I participate in Twitter chats at #dadChat & #DadsRT.
2) Tell me about your family
I am married to a beautiful wife for four years now. We have two children, a Daughter who is 20 months, and a son who just turned three months last week.
3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
The largest challenge I have had as a Dad is balancing my attention between the two children. They both are the very cuddly type, and when I have to feed my son, my daughter always wants to be held with him. I am learning that my children will adapt, and that all my attention cannot be focused on one particular child.
4) What advice would you give to other fathers?
Don’t give up or get discouraged, nobody ever said that being a parent is going to be easy. You are going to have some days where everything runs smoothly and you wish you could have 15 children and on other days, you can get overwhelmed and stressed out. Try to relax and enjoy the ride. Your children are never going to be the age they are right now, and you should cherish every moment you have with them. Somebody blessed you to bring a child into the world so you should never take that for granted.
5) Seeing that you (or your position) are in the limelight, how have you come to balance parenthood and outside life? If you are currently not in the limelight per se, please still answer this in regards to how you balance parenthood and outside life.
We participate in Mommy & Daddy groups which has been phenomenal for both parents and our children as well. It allows the children to have friends their ages, and gives both parents a social outlet. We also go out as a group without the children. It has enabled us to make a lot of new friends local to the area that are going through the same experiences, pretty much around the same time. We discuss parenting techniques and suggestions on ways to manage our time. My wife is also kind enough to let me go to all the NY Jets home games. I have been going for over 25 years with a very large group of friends I have known my whole life. It gives me a good amount of time to catch up with those friends and relatives that I do not get to see that often.
6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
I have learned so much from other fathers face to face, as well as on social media. I have learned some of the great ways that fathers bond with their children, as well as issues I have yet to encounter. I find it is beneficial to ask as many questions as possible because we all kind of learn on the fly how to be good parents. My daughter has a peanut allergy so I have learned what to stay away from, what to do in case she accidently eats some, and so on. On twitter I have turned to two chat groups. The Dads Roundtable under #DadsRT on Wednsdays at 9ET, and Bruce Sallan’s #DadChat on Thursdays at 9ET, but only if my children are in bed. My parenting duties will always come first. The discussions and topics are very helpful, and it allows us Dads to lean on each other for support. You will be surprised how nice total strangers have been to me as I am learning to become a Great Dad, and the blogging world to share my experiences with others. Almost all the fathers I have interacted have the same goal, and that is to be the best possible parents we can be.
7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
It’s the greatest thing in the world becoming a parent. It completely changes your life for the better and instead of living for yourself, you start to striving for the perfect family unit. I suggest that you start bonding with your child while in the womb, as I did. I would place my chest against my wife’s stomach after she fell asleep, so the child would get connected with the rhythm of my heartbeat. I would talk and read at the same time because I wanted my children to recognize me the second they came out of the womb. Both children were very alert to my voice in the hospital and still to this day they are most comfortable laying with their backs centered on my heart.
8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
The births of my children are the best days of my life; just seeing their little smiles makes me melt. They are both very healthy & happy children and that is all one could ask for. My daughter’s first MLB game on Father’s Day this past year is my most memorable moment with her. My son’s most memorable moment I would say is when we went to the Zoo as a family. He was a chatterbox and smiling at every animal exhibit. Just seeing the world through their eyes has made me feel like a kid again and just makes me cherish the little things in life. It has brought into perspective what is really important in life for me, and that is my family’s happiness.
If you have any questions for Rob, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
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