Today is a special day for dads out there – biological, step, foster, adoptive, pet or otherwise. Some men (and women) serve in the role of dad without having been given the title technically. For any of you who have acted in the role of father in our lives, we can officially dote on you and tell you why you deserve to (A) have control of the TV today, (B) pick the restaurant location or meal of choice and (C) add a new toy or geek item to your man-cave/geek cave/”office,” whatever you may call your special place of hibernation. (My stepsons have christened the hubs’ spot ‘The Dork Room.’ Heh.)
I know for some of my friends reading this Father’s Day might not be so easy. Those who lost their dad years ago, experienced a challenging relationship with their father or who may never have gotten to know their dad at all may be struggling today and I do not wish to add to that burden. I would however like to wish everyone a Happy Father’s Day who has played a positive role of dad in some capacity in the lives of kids. I interact with so many fun, loving and generous dads on social media on a daily basis and as I learn of your interactions with your kids, young or grown, I am always fascinated to learn about that other facet of your lives, one we don’t always get to see out in the professional world or on social media. Some dads will share everything out here. One of my personal favorites is James Breakwell (aka @XplodingUnicorn on Twitter) who leaves me in stitches on a regular basis. If you don’t have young kids now and want to read what daily life as a dad in 2017 is all about, you must check out his hilarious dialogues between him and his kids. Trust me on this.
I have some awesome fathers in my own orbit. My husband has always impressed me at the way he has raised his sons with thoughtfulness, honesty and humor, and I don’t think it’s any big shock that as grown men they are very close with their dad all of these years later. That’s a testament to his approach to parenting.
Everyone has a different approach. I’ve enjoyed watching my oldest stepson grow into his role with three children of his own and seeing some of our closest friends and other family enter fatherhood with wonder and conquer its confusion and complexities like champs.
I am so grateful that I got to see my dad a few weeks ago and tell him Happy Father’s Day on the phone Friday after a health scare last Christmas that I thought was going to prevent us from wishing him a Happy 72nd birthday, 50th Anniversary or Father’s Day this year. I’ve said it before out here but if I could pick just one thing about my dad that I appreciated most while growing up, it was his ability to bring humor to everything. I remember having so much fun laughing, making up characters with silly voices and my favorite of all, singing along to his vinyl collection with a copy of SONG HITS lyrics magazine in front of us and a microphone between us connected to the tape recorder. I need to pull out those audio tapes and get those onto CD and mp3. Pronto! Our rendition of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” could probably be deemed sacrilegious to true JT fans but I remember roaring with laughter at our failure to read lyrics properly.
But we weren’t always goofing off when I was a kid. He never wavered at making certain that I felt like I could do anything, and so because of that, I felt I could! That’s a wonderful quality any good parent can treat their kids to by fostering their confidence at an early age and helping dissuade them from setting limits on themselves. I’ll always love him for both of those gifts — his humor and faith in me — that he shared generously throughout childhood and well into adulthood.
To those who will celebrate special dads today of every variety, reflect on theirs or direct their energies to other father figures in their lives, I encourage you to hold nothing back. To the dads themselves, I say ‘cheers to you!’ Thank you to all of the great dads out there – especially all of you awesome fellas I have gotten to know as friends out here on Facebook, Twitter and networking in the Bay area. Enjoy your special day! ~Chris xo
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