Rob & Jais

Rob, 27

Jais, 3

"Every day is special being dad. Real talk. Seeing him wake up, his smile, spending time with him, seeing him laugh, watching him play. Watching him grow. Just the stages. I remember when he was an infant; now he's 3 years old. Just watching him turn into a young man. His personality. The things he says, how he plays. It's amazing to me. Everyday is priceless, know what I'm saying? It's like watching myself grow up, it's crazy. It's 10 times better, 'cause he has a father. He knows I'm there for him. He might not understand now, like 'Oh, Daddy buys me toys and ice cream,' but he know Daddy gon' be there. That's my son."

"When I found out I was having him it was funny and scary at the same time, 'cause me and his mom decided before that we didn't wanna' have kids. It didn't hit me though until he was here. It felt like a dream but when he got here I was like 'Oh shit!' It dawned on me. It woke me up to realize I'm not living for myself no more so everything negative I was doing had to go. He became my main focus. From then, the only thing I want is to see him smile and live a better life than I did. For example, I just took him to Puerto Rico. I'm 27 years old and this is my first time going to Puerto Rico and I'm half Puerto Rican. That makes me want my son to experience 10 times what I experienced. I want him to experience everything I didn't. Every aspect, like, we going to Disney. I never been to Disney so when we go it will be the first time for both of us. We gon' be kids together."

"I got someone to live for. Nobody is gonna' take care of my son, like I take care of my son. When I had him it was like, now I got a lil' me. It's either kill or be killed. Whatever I gotta' do, but the right way now. I went out and got 2 good jobs. He's my motivation. Whenever I wanted to quit, whenever I wanted to give up, I'd just look at a picture of him or go see him. Just see his smile… no cares in the world, just running around. He ain't ask to be here but he is, so I gotta' make sure that he's good."

"My biggest thing waking up everyday is just making sure that he knows I'm there. That he knows I'm his dad. That's one of the best things now in my life, like, when I call him or see him or pick him up from school, just hearing him say, 'Daddy!' Like, he knows who I am, nah' mean? He knows who his father is."

"The most important thing is time. Teaching him. The money and clothes will come but the biggest thing is time. And the thing about time is, you can't get it back. People always misinterpret being a parent, thinking it's, 'Oh, I spend all this money on my kid.' Your son not gon' remember $300 Jordan's you bought him or the $200 polo jacket you bought him. He gon' remember, Dad taught me how to catch, taught me how to throw a ball, and play soccer, know what I'm saying? Those are the important things that they will remember growing up, so I try to spend as much time with him as possible."

"My favorite quote in the world is by Frederick Douglass: "Without struggle there is no progress. If you always winning, how you gonna' make progress? You gotta' learn how to lose sometimes. That's a lesson I wanna' teach my son. Imma' let him go through some shit 'cause that will make him stronger. It's either gon' make him or break him. And I'm not gon' let it break him."

"I just want him to be himself. I don't want him to ever think he gotta' fit in with the crowd. I just want him to be him. Whoever Jais is is who I'ma love. Thats's it. Shit, if you wanna' be a golf player, fuck it, go be a golf player. If he wanna' play tennis, so be it. He could be a fucking pianist or build puzzles for a living. I dont care, whatever he do... I just want him to be himself. I don't want him to ever feel like an outcast or a black sheep, 'cause I felt like that sometimes, growing up. I want him to always remember to be himself. Don't ever try to change yourself for anybody. You are you for a reason. They either gon' hate it or love it. If they don't love it, oh well. Everything ain't for everybody."