This month’s Father Feature is a dedicated father who prides himself on being there for his daughter as he navigates through the co-parenting journey. Flor is also a staple in his community as he leads and organizes other fathers to be involved in their children’s lives.
Flor Mercado
Flor, I know you to be a busy devoted father and friend, how would you describe yourself to the Happy With Daddy community?
Fatherhood is my passion. It comes before anything else. I dedicate my time with my daughter to continue building our bond but most importantly, leaving my footprint in her journey.
You have been an advocate for healthy co-parenting throughout the years. What has been your favorite advice to share?
Co-parenting certainly isn’t an easy task. It’s probably one of the toughest things I ever had to do. My biggest advice is no matter what, make every intention in the child’s favor. You are going to encounter numerous challenges and some may even test your patience. Stay the course and make your child the priority. Your child will see these behaviors so it’s important to be the best example. Especially in a co-parenting situation.
Co-parenting comes with its many challenges. What has been one of the hardest hurdles to overcome when it comes to co-parenting?
Establishing a fair co-parenting plan will be the best bet to help your child cope with the separation of both parents. My biggest hurdle was fighting for fairness against narcissism, anger and revenge. My goal was to make sure my child received what she needs while having the support of both parents and hopes to be on the same page by displaying fairness for my daughter along with putting my personal feelings aside.
Man, I love to see the work put in with the Orlando Dads Group. Tell us more about the group and the mission of the fathers involved.
The Orlando Dads Group, along with nearly 40 other cities, has grown to be a diverse community of active fathers who want to socialize, engage in play and share perspectives to becoming better parents. I have co-organized the group for about 3 years now and it has been an amazing ride. We have formed a brotherhood and created a family around fatherhood. It even feels like we’ve known our new members forever at their first meetup. We don’t just want to grow our group. We want to help dads navigate fatherhood with the help of other like minded fathers across the city.
Recently, you started a podcast called “The Evolution of Dad Style”. What message do you want to get across to your listeners and growing audience with this platform?
When you become a dad for the first time, we have no idea what we’re doing or how good of a job we’ll do. Going through a divorce, I was made to feel like I didn’t have what it takes. My mission was to prove that statement wrong. I want to empower dads to dig deep to find what makes them unique and to go all in into parenting with that unique quality with their children. This is what separates you from other dads. This is what your child will remember most about you. This is your own Dad Style. In the podcast, I share my own journey in fatherhood and how I developed my own style. I will highlight other fathers as well to show that although we share the same goals as fathers, we all do it our own way.
One of the podcasts episodes, you discuss being a single dad raising a daughter. I am in a similar situation raising two daughters, 10 & 8. If it’s anything like what I am experiencing, the changes are coming faster than I would like. How are you navigating through changes with your daughter?
My daughter, also 10, is growing way too fast for me. Two things have helped me tremendously in knowing things about raising a daughter. I have done so much reading and research with raising girls so I can arm myself with as much knowledge and to prepare myself with the changes that would be happening to her. The next thing was to make sure I surround her with positive women that will encourage her and help me support her through the changes in becoming a young woman.
What has been the hardest question from your daughter to answer?
When my daughter got a little older, she asked me why can’t mommy and daddy be together. I would never talk about her mom to my daughter so I had to neutralize the answer the best way I could. It was a lot harder than I imagined. As kids would do, every response followed with a “Why?”. I wasn’t sure I had the perfect response but I gave the best one I could without bad mouthing anyone. The most important thing is how I was able to show respect for others regardless of how I know it personally affected me.
“I wasn’t sure I had the perfect response but I gave the best one I could...”
I can’t let you go without answering this question. What is the best ride at Disney World in your opinion?
This is probably the hardest question of all. Personally, I love Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom. It goes fast, stops, goes backwards, fast again, drops and has twist and turns, with so many new rides coming soon, I might have a favorite later this year.
