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Hello everyone,
There are some things nobody tells you about being a father*. I’m 99% certain that if I wasn’t around, for example, my family would never eat mayonnaise, peanut butter or anything else that comes in a jar. Some of proudest moments as a father have been popping the lids off containers of jam which have defeated everyone else in the house.
One of my biggest moments of shame has been failing to get the lid off, only to hand it to a 5-year-old who then opened it easily and then laughed at me.
I loosened it, okay?
So that’s a good skill to have. Opening (or loosening) the lids on jars. Seeing as fresh produce would disappear in the event of a zombie apocalypse, my family should definitely keep me around what with all the jars they’ll have to scavenge.
Dads are good at ignoring the badly-translated instructions for assembling toys, too. (Why are there always extra washers left over? And what’s that spring thingy labelled “safety clip”?).
Dads can change light bulbs with ease after only six months of everyone bumping their shins in the semi-darkness.
Dads are fantastic at standing around a fire for five hours and then chucking a steak onto a grill to let the coals heat it. This is called Hard Work and Cooking.
Dads are great for those times when a toddler needs to be picked up by the ankles, and even better at climbing into the attic to go to war with mice and spiders.
I have this distinct memory of my father up to his elbows in an uncovered drain, sweating as he used two or three unravelled wire coat hangers to loosen whatever revolting blockage was preventing the toilet from flushing. Heroic.
The point is, dads do more than all of these things besides vanishing to an office or making sure the couch cushions are all functioning according to the manufacturer’s specifications. The dads in your family are all different and come with varied skills and interests, so I’d hesitate to say “all dads…”
There are absent fathers, deceased fathers and non-existent fathers so Father’s Day for those households without a dad can come with a sting.
But some dads really are household heroes, and we want to keep cheering on the little things dads do to make a family work.
*I know moms can do all of these things, too!
Have a wonderful week!
What does the dad in your life do that makes him a household hero? Send your stories to chatback@parent24.com and you could be featured on Parent24.
