Dad Of The Month!

Curtis Aimonetto

Where do you live?
Portland, Oregon.

What is your profession?
Mortgage Loan Officer.

What are your hobbies/interests?
Photography, Car Racing, art, design.

What do you drive?
2003 Ford Taurus.

What are you reading?
Ecart Tolle's "A new earth".

What music are you listening to?
Mostly indy rock.

What's the last movie you saw? How would you rate it?
Australia. I think it would totally classify as a chick flick and I sat and watched it by myself. I thought it was really good. I may watch it with the kids. It is hard to find a movie to watch with the kids.

What do you think makes a good parent?
My first thought was patience. I think the better thought is, we as parents need to be really comfortable with who we are. If we are totally secure with who we are many of the things we would need to be patient about don’t bother us any more. When people talk about parenting they often talk about what they do to, or for their children. I think the best parents are those people that focus on being good people, not necessarily finding a really effective way to tell your kids to be good people.

Kids names and ages?
Tyler 13.5, Michael 11, Sarah 8.5.

Describe your favorite family vacation?
I took the kids camping. We don’t camp a lot and they had only been camping with a motor home. This was the first time they set up tents, cooked on the fire etc. It was fun watching them be totally engaged.

Your thoughts on being a Dad?
I love being a dad. I can’t imagine a world where I wasn’t a Dad. I am seeing my role change before my eyes. I feel my boys (Tyler for sure) have already developed a basis for who they are. I am changing my role to more of a voice in their ear. I’m helping them reconcile their actions with their vision of who they are, no who I think they are. I think as my kids transition from children to adults I want to help them see they are making decisions all the time. Mostly, they are making decisions and they don’t even know it. I want to point out along the way the decisions they are making. If they can develop this skill I believe it will literally empower them to do what ever they want with their lives.

How do you juggle family and work?
I will say that I didn’t do this very well. I was basically addicted to work. I think this was a result of a lot of things in my life. Divorce has made this a lot easier for me. When I have my kids I am able to totally focus on being with them. The times I don’t have my kids I am able to focus (without guilt) on what ever I am doing. I think it is really important to be present with what ever I am doing, work, play, kids, relationships. Balance is the most difficult thing for me to accomplish in life.

What's your favorite thing to do with your kids?
I really enjoy just talking to my kids. They are all very different and I learn as much from them as they do from me. We talk about life. We talk about philosophy. Some days we talk about cartoon characters. It doesn’t really matter, but we share ideas, stories, thoughts, dreams. It is my favorite thing.

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be dads?
Don’t panic.

What lessons have you learned from your own dad?
I was the older of 2 boys growing up. My dad and I had a pretty good relationship. He would allow me to argue with him for hours. I think I have learned there was a lot of good in that. I have also learned (after listening to him reflect about those times) limits can and should be set.

How have you changed since becoming a dad?
It has been a while for me. I have gone through a lot of changes. I have grown a lot. I don’t know which of those things are due to becoming a father? I can say the being a father makes everything I do more important. I often think about the things I am doing, thinking, saying and ask myself. If my kids were to find out would I be ok with that?

What is your website address?
www.mtgadvocates.com.

Do you think the role of Dads today is different than a generation ago? If so, How?
No I don’t really think the role is different. I do believe our role is executed in different ways than it used to be. There are different social norms that we work in, but the primary role of raising children to be contributing members of our society hasn’t changed.

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