There is probably nothing that, as a legal guardian or spouse, can make your family happier than with the sentence: “I am more here for you now.” So in the home office, for example, where a son or daughter naturally appreciates it when father or mother is very close to them or vacuuming the hallway for a walk. In professional life, too, a statement such as “I would like to take care of my family more in the future” has a tremendous impact. Everything that was once is instantly forgotten. And even the most annoying colleague from the morning conference grows on your heart immediately.
Most recently, the Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Blümel and his former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz publicly invoked their sense of family. As a reason for their resignations. Blümel became a father for the first time in March 2020, his wife, for example, reported default, in addition to their daughter during the hot investigation phase of the corruption prosecutor’s office, also liked to push dad’s laptop around the block in the stroller. And now Blümel said: “I have decided to leave politics. Above all for my family.”
Sebastian Kurz, on the other hand, just now ÖVP boss, posted a very nice photo a few days ago – apparently from the delivery room – in which two hands (apparently that of his partner Susanne Thier and that of his newborn Konstantin) another hand (probably his ) clutch tightly. Last Thursday, the former political star said at a press conference: “I’m looking forward to spending time with my child and family before I will devote myself to new professional tasks in the New Year.”
“Less drama, more mom”
Of course, there was something similar recently from Mark Zuckerberg on the way to parental leave (“Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families”), as well as from Toni Kroos when saying goodbye from the national soccer team (“And I also want to be there more than husband and dad for my wife and three children”) or from political professionals like Donald Trump’s former spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway (“Less drama, more mom”). When you heard it like that, you’d think, “Damn it, they’re right.”
On the other hand: Especially now, when everyone knows how much you stand in the way of others at home, you could say: “Oh, come on. Those are all excuses.” As with this former editor-in-chief of a German tabloid, who these days on Twitter almost sounded a bit as if he had been the victim of vaccination advocates, not his hormones.
But good. Perhaps one or the other is really convinced of the higher goals of his existence and indispensability on the kitchen shelf. Of self-surrender and willingness to make sacrifices, of care and empathy. “I’m more here for you now.” Thank you, Dad.
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