What makes a great dad? That’s a hard question to answer, it differs completely person to person. Just like Mother’s Day we honestly don’t need a holiday to remind us how great our parents are, what they do for us on a daily basis is reminder enough. My advice to Dads this weekend? RELAX!
Dads, you don’t have to be perfect – that’s what Moms are for – they help clean up the mess, really? (just kidding) Best memory of my Dad? That he wasn’t perfect and there are many stories to prove that! I can see him standing in the garage holding a hair dryer to a frozen pipe because forgot to leave the heat on and his teenage daughter had a date planned and couldn’t take a shower (talk about drama), I remember long drives to Florida with my father wearing the same pair of shorts, my sisters yelling, “Dad’s getting up, hold your nose!” There were a few times we were dancing outside at a beach bar and heaven knows (really, heaven does know) that NEITHER of us are perfect, but after a pina colada we felt we could bust a move. There’s the man standing at the door when my date came to pick me up – not saying a word the entire time. The beached whale trying to body surf the waves in Ocean City, the Umpire getting death threats from parents at our softball games, to the handyman that thought he really could paint the inside of toilets. A screw to hang a picture, fishing line to a screw in the ceiling to keep the Christmas Tree up, Dad wasn’t perfect but always was thinking of a Plan B.
Everything we did was NEVER perfect or EVER went according to plan, so rather than worry about what was going wrong – we simply laughed it off and moved on with Plan B. He was roasting some meat on the charcoal grill, my Mom said, “Buddy, you think that’s done?” I remember watching him open the lid to the grill, a big fireball flying up into the sky with a little black brick in the middle of the grill. He looked at the brick, shut the lid and said, “Maybe just a few more minutes.” Guess what? We ate watermelon, corn on the cob, potato salad for dinner – probably the only time my father ever went vegetarian. Best part of dinner, laughing and coming up with some very interesting culinary names for the meat – “le Brick de Noir” or “Teeth Crusher” or “BOB-Black Overcooked Brick.”
By learning how to RELAX, my Dad was comfortable in his own skin. By admitting mistakes, moving on and forward, he was the person people enjoyed hanging out with – no pretense, a little burned food, many good stories! He wasn’t perfect but he was exactly what I needed growing up – someone to remind me to relax, and enjoy the moment!
So Dads – RELAX, enjoy the moment because that’s the most important part of Father’s Day, being with your family and creating those funny stories of tomorrow. Any good stories of your Dad’s imperfections?
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