I stood in the card aisle at Kroger trying to find a Father’s Day card for my dad & my husband… and I teared up.  Reading through cards about fathers making you who you are today, teaching you to ride bikes, consoling you after heartbreak… the tears kept coming.  Then I saw a section for Grandfathers and I was one hot mess.  I gathered my son & made a b-line for the door.  I couldn’t think straight long enough to read anymore cards.

I am so blessed to have had 3 awesome men in my life.  My grandfather, whom I miss dearly, and think about all the time… My dad, who is also my close friend… and my husband, the best father I could ask to have for my kids, and my very best friend.  How I lucked out like this, I’ll never know.

So to the dads out there, thank you.  Thanks for not just being a father, but a dad.  Most of my clients know that I have a history of crying during weddings.  9 times out of 10, I cry during something related to the parents.  I think it’s because I’m a mom now, and can picture how quickly the next 20 years will go and I’ll be the one there, toasting my son, or dancing with him on his wedding day.  Father/daughter dances choke me up all the time.  It’s one of the most special times on a wedding day for the bride, and one of the most scary in a lifetime (I’m sure) for the dad.  Here’s a few memorable daddy-daughter dances in my mind…

…and from the perspective of a child.  After my bawling incident in the store trying to purchase a card, I decided Noah could make one for his daddy instead.  I’m NOT crafty (see several past blogs to figure that out) so while this isn’t the most aesthetically appealing card of all time, it’s definitely my favorite.  Noah (age 3) and I sat down to make this card for daddy and I asked him “Noah, why do you love daddy?  What do you love about daddy?”  I wrote EXACTLY what he said… Here’s the card (be sure to check out Noah’s awesome smiley face on the opening page )

A few others on the list were:

Tickle
Watch baseball wit’ you… and basketball
Build house (the kid is obsessed with Lincoln Logs)

It was so fun for me to hear from Noah what things he loves about his daddy at this age, and to be able to write them down & remember. 

…and to end on a funny note, a quote I came across…

“To be a successful father…there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.”

~ Ernest Hemingway

Apparently Ernest’s kid stopped the tantrums at age two… lucky him!