Mark Consuelos Is Fine Not Being Friends With His Kids

— -- Mark Consuelos penned a touching, yet candid essay on parenting for Men's Health and in it, he opens with what he's learned from raising three children with wife Kelly Ripa.

"For better or worse, you always end up sounding like your dad. You never think it’s going to happen -- you’ll be different, you tell yourself -- but when the time comes and you become a parent, it just happens," he writes. "You say things to your kids and you think, 'Wow. I totally morphed into my father. How did that happen?'"

Consuelos -- who has sons Michael and Joaquin, and daughter Lola with the talk show host -- continued that as a father "your main concern is whether your kids are being polite or doing well in school. When you’re constantly hoping they’re not out there getting murdered or getting caught up in drugs, you can really lose sight of the fun part of parenting."

His father has all the fun now, being the jolly grandfather, he adds.

"When my dad is doing his grandfather stuff, he’s so laid back and mellow. Once he’s gone, I look at my son and tell him, 'That guy was like Pancho Villa and Saddam Hussein wrapped into one. That guy was a tyrant! He was so strict. You couldn’t get away with anything,'" he writes, adding that his son doesn't believe him.

"Being friends with my kids just isn’t in the cards. I have to be like my dad was with me," he adds. "They might not like it, and they might not like me very much at times. That’s too bad. It’s not my job for them to like me."

The "Alpha House" actor, 44, gave examples like making sure his son goes to his soccer games because of the commitment he made.

"Ninety percent of success in this world is just showing up," he writes, adding that was what his father would tell him. "Just show up, and you’ll figure it out. It’s the best lesson I ever learned from him. ... My dad showed up for me, and I’m showing up for my kids."