Dad of the Week: Ben Hartford 

Ben Hartford works as a strength coach, personal trainer, and competitive strength athlete and lives in Hillsboro, NH where he is raising his daughters and son! Every Dad of the Week answers the following questions, read on to learn more about Ben and his family!

• What was your first reaction when you found out that you were going to be a father?
  • Oh crap. What if I deploy again soon?
• When you knew you were going to be a father, who or where did you turn to for advice?
  • Nowhere, really. I didn’t have good fatherly role models. 
• How would your kids describe you as a dad?
  • Funny. Strong. 

• What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
  • Keeping my temper under control. 
• Looking back on your life as a father, what would you change if you could?
  • I’d start going to daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration sooner. When I took up those disciplines, I became a thousandfold better father. 
• What do you do for fun with your children?
  • Wrestle and play with the younger ones. Play D&D with some of the older ones. Joke around and listen to music. 

• What advice would you give to other dads?
  • Love their mother even more than the children. Your coupled stability is worth a million vacations and hugs and toys and talks. 
• How have you come to balance fatherhood and outside life?
  • Putting God first means that everything that follows is properly ordered. God, wife, children, work, leisure. My friends understand and respect that hierarchy. If they don’t, they fall away. 
• What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a father?
  • They’ve all gone through cycles of bombarding me when I come home. Seven girls means a lot of enthusiastic hugs when I get home. I try very hard to soak it in each time. 

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