My journey as a Father—11 things I Enjoy Doing with My Son

Having a hectic life being a doctor, I always keep my family as my absolute priority and so I'm very fond of my son. Every evening, I rush home to hug him tight and to play with him .Not only I'm his father, I'm his friend, his playmate, his story teller, his peek-a-boo man and his caretaker too. I believe in interactive learning for my son (one-to-one learning).
1) I have made him learn how to greet guests when they arrive and how to say good bye. He loves to give a 'high five' to any new member he meets and thus it acts as an ice-breaker for getting a new friendship started.
2) I avoid cartoons for him and rather engage him in activities that make him learn new things and keep him involved.
3) I use smartphone applications often to play quiz with him regarding alphabets, colours, vehicles, fruits and vegetables etc. Audiovisual aids help in learning things exponentially fast .
4) I love seeing him drive his electronic toy car .I play outdoor games with him making sure he enjoys all that he does (never try to impose my options on him).
He likes playing in the baby pool a lot.
5) I often agree to his valid requests but sometimes I do say no to his demands (like buying a new toy car when there are already 3 at home).This way I make him learn to accept 'No' as an answer (sometimes).Whenever he throws a tantrum , I try to divert his mind towards other options. Example—I tell him about evening baby pool game or making clay toys at home.
6) When it's breakfast/lunch/dinner time, our family eats together on the dining table without any distraction like TV around. This way my son eats with us as he sees us eat with him too.
7) I have taken him to various places like traffic training parks, air force museums, vintage car galleries so that he learns things by visual impact.
8) As a father, I allow him to speak his thoughts, give my 100% attention and try not to interrupt him when he talks to me.
9) For every rhyme he recites completely or for any task he completes fully, I always appreciate him by saying words like very good, well done, good boy etc so that he realises that finishing a task is very important and you will get applauded for it.
10) There are moments when I'm busy and my baby wants to play with me. I politely ask him to wait and that I'll play later. This way he learns to wait for his turn.
11) I hug him and cuddle him as much as I can throughout the day. This grows our love, our mutual trust and my baby feels secure this way.

He is into playschool now, growing day by day, discovering new things, finding new friends. As a Dad I feel proud to have an angel like him in my life. He is my best creation, my pride, my lucky charm, my God sent gift, my reason to live, my stress buster and my best friend.