On each of the 30 days leading up to Father’s Day, Life of Dad will feature a different great dad from around the world.
Today we feature Travis Williams, founder of the hip website, Daddy’s Hangout. Travis has a cool wife, as well as three kids… Dre (13), Jasmine (12) and Jada (7). He is a huge sports and music fan, but more that anything enjoys spending time with his family. Here is Travis’ interview…
I really became a father… before my son was born. Unfortunately, my wife and I lost our first child in December of 97, due to miscarriage. I always counted that as when I became a father. Then, of course, when my son was actually born, I really experienced fatherhood for the first time! It was crazy because all along they didn’t know if he was a boy or girl till the end…and they said its a girl. Let’s just say I had a lot of clothes to trade out, but I remember being a part of him being born…cutting the umbilical cord and holding him, it felt like heaven. I still gets chill bums thinking about it.
My kids make me laugh when… I just sit back and listen to some of the things they say and I see so many of my qualities in them that I possess, seeing I always joked around when I was a kid.
My favorite daddy cocktail when the kids crash… used to be either an Ice House or Hennessy but now I’m on this health thing and don’t drink anymore…hell I crash with them.
Dream date night with my wife? Well, we’re just lucky to get a break because our kids don’t like spending the night anywhere but when they do we like to keep it simple with a nice dinner at Applebee’s, just relaxing and talking. Then we’ll go home to watch a movie.
What is the hardest thing about fatherhood? I’ll be honest…around here bullying and kids talking about one another is bad. Other difficult parts of fatherhood are when the kids get sick and when they have to get shots… just about anything when something is wrong and you can’t do anything about it. I guess the hardest thing about fatherhood is probably everything but at the same time, it’s the best thing that can ever happen to you.
What’s in your man cave? I actually don’t have one. But if I did, I’d definitely have my laptop, along with a big screen TV. Then add ALL my CDs, because I have thousands of them…I love music. I’d also include my exercise bike and treadmill. Oh yeah, I can’t forget my recliner.
How many hours of sleep each night? I actually work at night but whenever I’m home and since my kids are older now I can probably sleep a good 8 hours. But when they were babies, I sometime went from an hour to maybe 3 or 4.
How has fatherhood changed in the last 20 years? Oh man, in every way possible. I remember growing up, the woman was staying at home and the dad was the bread winner. Nowadays, we have many dads staying at home, which is good because kids these days need more strong males around them. Also, I remember my mom doing all the cooking, cleaning and laundry. Speaking for myself, I help with the laundry, cleaning and cooking. I take the kids to the park, hell I’ll even do my youngest daughter’s nails and even have tea parties (yeah I admit it). So much has changed in fatherhood, all for the better.
Dream family vacation? Ok, for myself, I’ve always wanted to watch a baseball game at Fenway Park, not just because I’m a Red Sox fan, but the history of Fenway and all the greats who have played there. For the family it’s gotta be DisneyLand, and I’m hoping we can go next year.
Make sure you follow Travis’ website, Daddy’s Hangout. Also, you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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