Season 3: Episode 1: Happy 2 Years and What have we been up to?

Our host, Kurtis Cameron, welcomes you to a new season of the Fatherhood Perspective. 
He offers his hanks to everyone who has supported this these 2 years that we have been around. Also on this episode, he shares the 3 things he has learned through the pandemic. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Happy two-year anniversary to the Fatherhood Perspective. We launched on Father's Day in 2019. So here we are at another Father's Day. And I just want to first say happy Father's Day and happy anniversary to our podcast. We've been gone for a little while, but we're back. I'm so grateful to everyone who has joined our fatherhood perspective family, and we're gonna get even better and grow even more as a family now that we are back recording. We'll talk a little bit more today about what's this past year been like, and then also what you can expect for this season of the Fatherhood Perspective. You are now tuned in to the Fatherhood Perspective. I'm your host, Curtis Cameron, and I'm so grateful you've joined us for yet another episode. Our podcast is here to share a father's point of view on life, family, and this journey we call fatherhood. Don't forget to join us on Instagram and Facebook at the Fatherhood Perspective. And as always, like, share, subscribe, review, and comment. Let's jump right in. This is the Fatherhood Perspective. Man, oh man, we are back. Man, it's been a while. Our last episode was published in August of 2020. So we are knocking on a year uh since you've heard from us, since we've been together here on our podcast. But I'm glad to be back. I am glad to be back. And truth be told, I've been through some things this past year. You know, we've we've been through a pandemic. Uh, so I'm excusing myself. I'm giving myself some grace uh for you know this this past year, but also I want to hold myself a little bit more accountable to you, our fans here at the Fatherhood Perspective, and hold myself accountable to my goals. So I do plan on being back uh more consistently. I do plan on uh being here and giving you guys, you know, content, having more guests, you know, sharing more, learning more about who you are. So I'm here, I'm back. Welcome back to the fatherhood perspective. For those who are new to our podcast or haven't listened to as many episodes, my name is Curtis Cameron. I am a father here in Virginia, in the United States. I do got some fans overseas. What's up, y'all? Um, we're here in the United States in Virginia, and I've been podcasting for about two years now. And um this podcast is just about fatherhood. We want to share our thoughts and hear from fathers and just tell that unique journey uh that only fatherhood can tell. So we're glad. We're glad. We're glad. We're glad to be back. So uh I'll give you a quick rundown, a little bit about my family, and then just tell you, you know, where we've been uh the past year. So I'm a dad of two boys. I have two boys, Hunter and Miles. Right now they're two and four, and they are a joy. They are a joy. I I love being their father. Um I absolutely uh am grateful for the privilege that it is to be their father and uh enjoy the responsibility uh that it is to be their father and am learning how to become an even better father to my sons because I think uh it's really important that I'm intentional about learning how to be a great father to my sons. And I believe you are too. Uh, why else would you be listening to a fatherhood podcast, right? Unless you're trying to be a better parent or learn a little bit more about parenthood, uh a parenthood journey, or uh just share in, you know, uh uh why else you would you be here unless you want to know, right? What are people going through? Um, and maybe even process uh some experiences that you've had in your own life, right? The the fatherhood perspective is about sharing that lens, that look through. I've had people tell me, you know, uh not until I heard a father's story did I understand some of the things that my my father did when I was younger, right? I've heard people tell me that who don't have children, right? So it's not even always about uh, you know, everyone is a father uh individually, but you're just you know grateful to hear this journey uh of fatherhood through through my lens and the lens of those who have joined us. So uh again, I've been a father for just over four years and I'm loving it. My boys are so smart, uh, they're learning. But as you might know, if you're out there in fatherland, uh, you know, that smartness sometimes, you know, you gotta check them, right? Because they they come at you uh with things because they want to learn so much and they're be they're becoming so independent and they're learning to find their voice that every once in a while they forget uh that you you you're not just their friend, but you're their father, and they gotta come correct. My boy certainly uh find a way to do that. I'll tell a quick story. Uh my son, uh, I had to fix the pedal on his bike. His one of his pedal came off, uh one of his pedals came off, and uh I fixed it and I wanted him to get on the bike and ride to the sign. The sign was only about 20 feet away, but I wanted to ride to the sign because I wanted to see the pedal as well as I adjusted his seat. So I wanted to see him ride 20 feet away to the sign and come back. And he said, No. He was like, Daddy, but I only ride far. And he starts whining and doing all this, you know, all this four-year-old stuff. And I'm like, dude, just get on the bike and ride to the sign. He did not. Uh so because of his whining and his defiance, um, and because I'm trying to learn how to discipline differently, right? I I decided he was done riding. So I said, you know what? That's it. You're tired, you you you're just doing the most. You can't ride no more. Put the bike inside and you go upstairs because it's time for bed. Um, because at this point, he he just became a little rude, and um, I just knew part of it was tiredness. Um, but I said, you know what? You're done. Let's go upstairs. He went upstairs and he's crying, and you know, I'm ignoring him, just trying to get him through the moment. Um I do want him to feel the moment. We can talk more about that when it when we talk about discipline another time. But I want him to feel the moment, yada yada. He's on the toilet. He says to me, because he's getting ready to take his bath to go to bed. He says, Dad, the only reason I wasn't listening is because sometimes you don't listen to me. And I was like, dude, be quiet. Like, what are you talking about? Um, but I that moment has stuck with me for these past few weeks because I'm like, wow, you know, he watches so much more about what I do, you know, um, than maybe I even I realize. And so all that to say, uh, as we'll share more stories as we go on, all that to say, man, uh sometimes children say, you know, their, they share their hearts. And for you, it might be like, boy, you four years old, what you talking about? But they share their hearts. So I hope you're listening. Uh when they do share. Um, but he he's every bit of four. He's every bit of discovering his voice, discovering who he is, uh, and telling me and his mother sometimes uh what he thinks the deal is. Uh, but you know, just just a great kid all around, and my youngest Miles uh is an amazing young man as well. So uh my wife and I are enjoying this journey, and every day is not easy, as you know, but we're enjoying the journey. So some of you um who are new also say, well, what happened between August and now? Like, where have you been? Uh and I've been where you've been. I've been in the global pandemic, right? Uh it wasn't always easy to sit down and record, or you know, uh just I was like, people don't want to hear from me right now. We've got enough going on. It was an election year, it was just so much happening, uh, social injustice, political unrest. Like there was just so much happening. I was like, people don't want to hear from me. Come to find out, maybe you did, right? So what I'm gonna do better at is sharing, even if it's only a few people who hear, and and maybe I can offer a perspective that some people uh appreciate as we go through, you know, what we go through. So that's where I've been. Um, you know, my family and I went through an attempted relocation that that didn't work uh like we thought it was gonna work. And so uh the tail end of my year was even different, and then even coming into the start of this year, uh transitioning to a new job and um, you know, trying to figure out fatherhood, trying to figure out how to be a great husband, uh, trying to figure out how to respond and be a part of the community. Um, and you know, how to how to be all black as I am and uh also learn how to um, you know, be in a world where where I can feel safe and be safe and come home to my family every night, right? So it's just been a lot, right? It's been a lot that we've been facing uh over this past year. But, you know, above all, I'm grateful that uh God has kept us and I'm grateful uh to just be back, back where I want to be, right here in front of this microphone, recording this podcast, sharing with you uh a little bit about the fatherhood perspective. And I'm not gonna take up much time. I'm about to wrap it up, but if I can, I want to give three things that uh the pandemic taught me um or reinforced for me even. Uh just share three things and and you know, then we'll talk a little bit more about what to expect as we go on with this podcast. First, I want you to know the pandemic has taught me or reinforced for me that you need to take care of what matters. Right? Like take care of what matters. If that's yourself, your own individual health, take care of it, respond to it. You got on you only have one body, right? You only got one life to live. Take care of what matters. If it's you, if it's your family, right? Take care of it. If it's your house, so many people fix things in their house, and it was great that you had a break to do that. But you know, certain things don't have to pile up. You can take care of it little by little, but day by day, right? Take care of what matters. If it's, you know, your loved ones that you don't get to talk to, you know, who you may have reconnected with during the pandemic, which is amazing. But if that matters to you, learn how to foster it, learn how to take care of it in a different way. It might mean setting some reminders for yourself. Hey, I want to make sure to reach out to Auntie every now and again. Whatever it is, right, take care of what matters. The second thing that the pandemic has taught me and you guys have seen this, I'm sure, is that life is short. Life is short, man. We lost a couple loved ones. I lost some family members, I lost a great mentor. I I lost some people um who mattered, and then we almost lost a few people as well. You know, I I tried to be there for a friend as his father battled with COVID for about eight weeks in a hospital. Um and man, I I felt every as much as I could feel from the sideline, right? Being being there with him and trying to support him and encourage him and you know, fast and pray and believe with him. Like it it was tough. But his dad made it through and his dad is doing great. But I'm sure their experience uh through COVID is making them look at their relationship differently and everything around them differently. Because life is short. Live, laugh, love, learn, lead. That's what I live by. Live, laugh, love, learn, and lead. Right? That's what I like to live by. Life is short, but it's meant to be lived. It's meant to be enjoyed. Get out there, take care of your health, get out there, you know, show some love to somebody, be a blessing to somebody, love someone else. Allow yourself to be loved, allow yourself to be blessed by others. Right? Put yourself in in situations where you can be more a giver than a receiver. Whatever you gotta do, right? Like life is short. It is meant to be lived. So find that thing you love, find that thing you want to do. Discover you, discover your goals, your dreams, your passions. Right? Life is short. In terms of fatherhood, man, we get hopefully these 18 years before they, you know, start to really mature and grow up and go on to some more adult things. You get that 18 years with them in the house, hopefully. Um, where you can be impactful in their journey, where you can be impactful and what they have going on. So, because even in that regard, this part of the journey is short. Make it count. I I really enjoyed during the pandemic just getting outside with the boys and kicking the soccer ball around, watching them develop. My son swear he's faster than me. I'll let him win a couple races, I'm not gonna lie, he's not gonna win no more. Nah, nah. But, you know, like I enjoyed all of that. These moments are precious. Life is short, man. I I love watching my kids slide down the slide. I love watching them uh and the discovery of learning, right? So I love watching them, maybe even as they watch, you know, a television program that's uh educational for them. That's enjoyable, right? I I I even enjoy, you know, the time we spend reading, watching them try to formulate the words, man. My son is four and he's he's he's really uh on his reading game right now, trying to learn how to read and he's he's getting good at it. And um he's trying to learn how to sound words out, and that is incredible to me. I'm not gonna lie. That is absolutely incredible to me. Um to see him try to learn to sound things out. But these moments are short. Eventually he's gonna be reading, but the the journey and the process it's gonna take to get there, man. I'm enjoying it. So this pandemic has reinforced for me. Life is short, it's meant to be lived. Do what you gotta do. And last but not least, there are people around you on your left and your right, in your home, even, your family members, close friends, associates, co-workers, whatever the case may be. There are people around you who are going through life and they're going through things that they may never tell you about. People are all around you are living life. Why do I tell that? Why do I say that? That was a lesson for me. Why do I say that that's something that the pandemic taught me? It's taught me more than ever to be kind, be kind to people, be gracious to people. Man, you never know what someone is going through. Right? You never know what battles they're facing, personally, publicly, privately, whatever the case may be, right? Like people need other people. We need each other. Be kind to people. Be kind to someone. Right? Like people are going through, man. You never know what they're going through. You don't.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Just be kind. Look for those opportunities to be kind. You know? Take care of each other.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

It's important. There's so many things happening around us that make it more that make life more divisive than it needs to be. That tries to make things this side or that side more than it ever needs to be.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

We gotta cut some of that out, right? For the sake of us, for the sake of our children, for the sake of life, be kind.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Teach somebody that live through that, learn that, right? Like be kind. So that's three things that the pandemic has taught me. Take care of what matters, life is short, and take care of the people around you. Be kind. So thank you for joining us. Um what I can tell you is I'm committed to recording more and consistently and giving you guys content. I'm committed to finding some great guests and having some great conversations. Um right now we're on audio format, but before the end of this season, we're gonna start doing some videos as well. So you're gonna be able to check us out on YouTube and maybe be a part um of these epic episodes as they're live and you know, really just have a good time with them. So uh our podcast is going up. We're going up, we're going up, we're gonna get bigger, we're gonna get better. Um, and I want to hear from y'all. Um, also, we're looking for some sponsors. Not necessarily so that I got money, but we're looking for sponsors because I want to be able to do some outreach and reach some people and take some kids to the movies and um, you know, buy a bike for somebody. Not my own children, buy a bike for somebody's children and and you know, get some fatherhood perspective t-shirts made. Um, so we're looking for some sponsors. So if you know anybody looking to sponsor a podcast, holla at me. The fatherhood perspective on Facebook and Instagram, as well as fatherhoodperspective at gmail.com. Go ahead and send us an email. And I just want to say thank you. I want to say thank you. Thank you for joining our podcast. Thank you for sticking with us, and um, I hope you know that the fatherhood perspective is here to stay. We're gonna get bigger and better. And uh I love you guys. Thank you so much. This has been the Fatherhood Perspective. Peace.