Whether they’re a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker, men who have children share a common bond.

But what is it about fatherhood that makes a man a dad? What is it that they’ve learned from their children?

More than a dozen men from different walks of life were asked that question last week throughout Lawrence.

Their responses have a common ring.

Take Jerry Totten, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, for example.

With a wad of chaw in his cheek, Totten leaned against a mailbox in downtown Lawrence and thought about what his 11-year-old daughter, Teanna, has taught him.

“Patience. Tolerance. Sacrifice. And love,” Totten said.

Across town, Keith Lesher, a meat cutter at Checkers grocery, smiled broadly when he talked about what he has learned from his four children, Becky, 22, Emily, 17, Taylor, 16, and Jordan, 10.

“Understanding,” Lesher said. “I believe in doing a lot of talking and getting things on the table where everybody knows how everybody feels about different things.”

Standing outside his business, Joe’s Bakery, owner Brad Rettele said he’s learned to take everything from his 5-year-old son, Mason, and his daughter, Delaney, 7, more lightly.

“My kids teach me patience, not through their own, but just to have patience to be around them,” Rettele said. “They teach me to be happy about everything. I’m always laughing.”

Bob Werts, owner of Waxman Candles, 609 Mass., says he’s learned how to listen and to ask questions of his three children, Melanie, 20, Ryder, 16, and Mitchell, 15.

“I’ve learned to pay attention to their needs, what they need to advance themselves in the world,” Werts said.

Humility

John Solbach, an attorney who has a downtown Lawrence law office, said he has learned some humility from his two sons, John Matthias Solbach IV, 20, and Bartholomew James Solbach III, 19.

“And I’ve learned that I don’t know quite as much as I think that I do. But I’ve also learned, I suppose, a greater respect for life and the struggles that it takes to get from childhood to adulthood, particularly from adolescence to adulthood,” Solbach said.

“And I suppose I’ve understood the truth in the quote from Ayn Rand when she says that ‘I believe in eternity and eternity is now.'”

Over at Dunkin Donuts, owner Dipak Patel, said his boys, Neel, 13, and Raj, 7, and daughter, Meela, 8, have taught him about education.

“The real things I’ve learned from my kids are that nothing is hard to learn,” Patel said.

Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx, a Lawrence barber, said his son, Christopher, 24, has taught him to be a little more serene.

“Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned from Chris is how to calm down and not overreact to situations,” Amyx said. “He’s probably helped me through a lot of the things I get pretty wound up about.”

Gary Bennett, general manager of Laird Noller Automotive, smiled when he listed his children: Michele, 26, David, 24, Brian, 22, Erin, 21, Michael, 16, and Patrick, 11.

“With that many kids, you’ve just got to be patient,” Bennett said. “It’s enlightening the older they get to see that they realize that you really do know what you’re talking about.”

Upside down

William Colburn, a local musician and stay-at-home dad, is celebrating his second Father’s Day with his 14-month-old daughter, Lydia Rae.

“She’s pretty much turned my world upside down,” he said. “I’ve learned that parenthood is a beautiful thing because it frees you from caring about what you want, and it’s more about what your children want. And you can really have something bigger than yourself to dedicate your life to. You don’t have much of a choice in the matter, it just sort of is innate. I’ve learned it’s probably the thing I was born to do.”

Many people know Robert Hemenway as the chancellor of Kansas University.

But with eight children, you might also call him one of the deans of Lawrence’s dads.

“I’ve learned a lot of things. I’ve learned to have more trust in their ability to drive than I originally had. I think in particular, I’ve learned to have more trust in their confidence in themselves,” Hemenway said.

“They turned out to be pretty good kids despite every impediment that I placed in their way. The final thing that I learned from my children is that if you have eight children, you’ll never have enough money.”