Posted by peskypippi | Posted in Celebrations, Childrearing, Children, Fathers, Men | Posted on 17-06-2012
Tags: children, Dad, daughter, father, Happy Father's Day, love, parenting, son
I know a Dad who:
- Mixes paint colors and demonstrates brush techniques with his daughter, while she sits wide-eyed with awe and follows his lead–turning blank canvases into works of art.
- Watches old war movies with his son, late into the night.
- Loves his children.
- Plants apple trees and hardy perennials and Douglas Firs, transforming the yard into an oasis. He buys the spindly Charlie-Brown-trees at the nursery and nurtures them until they are full and tall and lush.
- Kisses his children to sleep and makes up a new kiss each week: angel (soft as a whisper), bird (pecks your neck), and puppy (nibbles your ear)–causing the children to giggle and wonder what will next week’s kiss bring?
- Demonstrates the work ethic and provides for his family. Every day.
- Removes splinters with his special X-Acto knife, squeezes blisters on soccer toes, and pulls baby teeth, that are hanging-by-a-thread, with a washcloth. He is not squeamish.
- Talks Star Wars trivia with his son. For hours.
- Gives prep talks and pep talks before soccer, football, and baseball games, reinforcing the importance of playing your best.
- Buries pets who were dearly loved.
- Compliments and supports his children’s projects with genuinity: Lego creations of hovercrafts-with-shooting-missiles; portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in watercolor; B+ math tests; diagrams depicting the life cycle of water; drawings of super heroes with stick bodies.
- Cooks with heat, introducing his children to spice and zest.
- Puts his family first. Always.
- Lays down ground rules for his children about how to act–and about how not to act–in the family, in school, in society.
- Listens.
- Queues up the children’s DVDs first in the Netflix queue, so they arrive the day they are released.
- Treats his dogs with compassion, love-and-tough-love, and mutual respect.
- Turns any weekday into a family party night, with Indiana Jones and popcorn.
- Teaches his children the importance of being kind to each other, others, animals–and most importantly, their mother.
This Dad I know is the father of our three children.
