Perhaps popular culture will take over…or perhaps they just won’t care. The fear is there because it’s so important to me that my children have a moral compass to live by, and that they have a value system that honors and respects others.

So what are fathers to do? We live in an increasingly complex society and answers to our children’s questions are neither easy nor simple. Many of these questions may be difficult to answer and may show your kids that ideas about what’s right and wrong are not always very clear.

What fathers can do is to wish and hope that things turn out for your children--or you can have courage to make passing on your values an absolute priority in your family. You can challenge yourself to pass on love, faith, courage, freedom--the eternal truths that will have meaning for your children for generations to come.

There will certainly be some bumps along way and it won’t always be a smooth ride. After all, there’s an entire culture out there that’s telling your kids that what they wear and what they buy is most important thing in their life.

There’s a way for fathers to succeed here. They can do it through stories that they tell their kids and also through how they models for their kids.

You can start by taking a different and closer look at daily events that happen in your life. Your life is filled with significant happenings that you can sometimes pass over if you’re not paying attention or if you get too busy. These events can become stories that your children will cherish.

Why is it important to tell your stories to your children?

One important reason is that it serves to connect your children to previous generations and to help them to feel a part of larger whole of your family. Perhaps a more important reason is that telling your children your stories helps them to deal with difficult challenges that they’ll be facing in their life.

The truth is that your kids will go through some real struggles. As parents, it can be painful to watch--and it is seldom useful to try to come to rescue. What can be helpful to your kids is to know that their father, and other significant people in their lives, have gone through similar struggles and have survived.

Right now he was tired, and I was as well. We lay down together in his little bed and after a few moments he said, “Daddy, when I get big can I live with you?” I assured him he could live with me any time he wanted to.

A moment later he said, “Dad, when you die you’re going to feel something on your face and it will be me touching your face.” Then he added, “I will kiss you on your cheek.” He moved over, kissed me lightly on cheek and cuddled in next to me.

I was aware of tears suddenly welling up in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. I was also aware that I didn’t want to have to explain why I was crying; as I opened my eyes to look at my son, I noticed he was fast asleep.

I spent some time just looking at him, savoring moment and wondering about depth of reaction I had just had. It occurred to me later that I didn’t remember having many of these kinds of tender moments with my own father. I felt both happy for a chance to experience it with my son, and saddened that I didn’t remember more of them with my own father.

It also occurred to me that this was a time in our lives that would be extremely short-lived. This time of innocence, and magical moments that make up a three-year-old’s life, would soon be gone forever.

What will remain, however, will be my memory of this moment that we had together. It was a moment that made all of difficult work of being a father worthwhile. It was a moment worth remembering.

Being a committed father can at times feel like an incredibly thankless and unending job. It can feel like you are no more than janitor, chauffeur, and handyman in house where you live. And then you will have “a moment.” A moment like this in which your child expresses absolute, pure, and unconditional love for you.