When my kids were younger, I used to avoid them. I used to sit on the toilet 'til my legs fell asleep. You want to know why your father spends so long in the toilet? Because he's not sure he wants to be a father.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a father's struggle with the responsibilities of parenthood and the desire to escape from them.
In this quote, comedian Louis C. K. humorously reveals his reluctance to embrace fatherhood fully. He shares a relatable experience of avoiding his children by spending excessive time in the bathroom, highlighting the pressures and doubts that can accompany the role of being a parent. This candid confession touches on the complexities of parenting, including the fear of inadequacy and the yearning for personal space.
In practice
In a parenting seminar discussing the challenges of fatherhood, this quote can provide a humorous yet relatable perspective.
I just always loved comedy and I really wanted to be good at it. And it was heartbreaking, 'cause I started and I wasn't good at it. I was only 17-years-old, so I had a lot to learn about life in general. But I just kept on trying. I was young enough and stupid enough and I had no other choice. I had nothing else I was good at.
It's a positive thing to talk about terrible things and make people laugh about them.
[about being a father] I don't really remember what it was like before. Whatever I had going on, it was bullshit. It wasn't important. It's kind of a nice thing about being a dad. My identity is really about them now, and what I can do for them, so it sort of takes the pressure off of your own life. What am I going to do, who am I? Who cares, you've got to get your kids to school. So I like it that way.
The only time you should look in your neighbor's bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's bowl to see if you have as much as them.
In 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo.
When you write from your gut and let the stuff stay flawed and don't let anybody tell you to make it better, it can end up looking like nothing else.
Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.
One of the joys of being a grandparent is getting to see the world again through the eyes of a child.
I profoundly believe that the power of food has a primal place in our homes that binds us to the best bits of life.
The difference between a child's aspiration and that family's situation, is the exact measurement of that family's frustrations.
He didn't come out of my belly, but my God, I've made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I'm so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
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