They say everything changes once you become a father...

Another question I am constantly asked is, "How is his English?" To be brief, he is only allowed to speak English to myself and his mother. That was a rule we had from the start. We also Skype a lot with grandma and grandpa in Florida/Canada. As of now, I attribute his English language ability to my prowess and conviction to teach him everything I can while I am with him. I am relentless in asking him questions and teaching him new vocabulary.

Currently, my wife is seven-month pregnant with our second child, and the challenge will be even greater as a father to be their every step of the way.

Being a father is not easy, but it is a joy and one that should be relished every time you look into your child's eyes. Reading books, teaching them English, teaching them right from wrong, potty training, showing them your favorite cartoons when you were a child. Everything is fatherhood for me.

I don't have many friends anymore, but that is a sacrifice one makes when becoming a parent. My best friends are my wife and my son (soon to be two). I appreciate my Chinese family's help, but I am a man after all; one who puts his children above and beyond everything else. I am an educator and understand the power of positive parenting and a strong role model a father can have first hand in a child's life.

Perhaps the Romance poet William Wordsworth put it best when he penned, "Child is the father of man". Maybe that's what makes fatherhood so great, is because it brings out the inner child of man, and makes us realize how frivolous all our problems as adults really are.

Now that I'll be a father again for a second time in less than two months, I can't wait. It truly is the greatest challenge, and feeling in the world.

I thank Beijing for giving me the opportunity to start and raise my family here. I first moved to China when I was 23. Now, I am 36, and am married to a beautiful Chinese woman who has given me the family I always wanted. I have a god job, a nice place to live, and even Lao Lao understands her place now.

I owe everything I have to this country. Perhaps the Chinese Dream isn't a dream after all...

The author is a Canadian teacher and writer who first moved to China in 2002. Fluent in spoken Mandarin, he currently lives in Beijing, is happily married, and makes not only his current teaching, but also parenting of his soon-to-be two boys his biggest priority in life.