My dad reading me an amazing story
When I was little my dad was Superman. He was the tallest man in the world, he wore the coolest clothes, he could fix any toy, and I knew I could always sweet-talk him into buying me snacks and candy whenever I wanted. I was daddy’s little girl and I had him wrapped around my pinky. Then I started middle school. My parents got divorced, and suddenly I saw my dad less and less. It took years before I was even willing to attempt to mend our relationship. Our father-daughter relationship didn’t sour overnight and it’s not going to be rebuilt in a day. We’re still working on it with every visit, video chat, and silly meme sent over WeChat. It took years but my dad’s starting to get his red cape back.
In this Beijing Baba issue, we give Beijing’s dads some much-deserved love and attention, and get a bit of insight into some unconventional lives of dads in the city. Jack Smith is a loving husband and father of twins by day, but by night he’s Elizabeth Stride, beautiful, fierce drag queen. Smith shares his story (p. 49) and tells us about the challenges of being a parent and a drag performer. We also touch on the family dynamic of a newly single dad and his relationship with his now ‘roommate’ son (p. 54).
We give one Beijing dad a total makeover (p.14), transforming his early morning bedhead into a runway-ready look for winter that rocks. Chef Nick shares the holiday dessert recipes that he makes for his little girl (p. 26). And a few of Beijing’s musicians prove that they can still rock on after having kids (p. 16).
When it comes to education, male teachers from Canadian International School Beijing, British School of Beijing, Sanlitun, and Beijing City International School share their views on how men are now defining their place in early childhood education (p. 34) as positive role models. Those valuable life lessons we learned as children stick with us our entire lives. Beijing’s dads share some valuable advice that their dads passed on to them (p. 44).
These are just a few of the topics we tackle in this issue. Flip through for more advice on life and parenting in Beijing, school news, and fun things to do with the family.
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This article appeared in the beijingkids November 2019 Beijing Baba issue
