Speaking from experience, I want to acknowledge all the Dads out there ("fathers" denotes genetics not commitment and love), that this is a job which is sometimes thankless and always demands much, but pays off when we see what kind of dads, men and husbands our sons become and what kind of moms, women and wives our daughters become. We are one of the two most powerful influences in the lives of our offspring, without the benefit of all the hormones moms have, In recognition of this, I post the best dad joke I could find.

 

                                                    

I've got a great father, but am a child of divorce so I'm fortunate to have an incredible step father as well as some uncles who were kind enough to be a great influence while I was growing up. Happy Father's Day to all the dads on this site! 

Yes, Happy Fathers Day to all here. You know who you are. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

Okay, this may be a day late but it's still worth sharing. We had a house in Southdale in the 90's. It was about 1400 square feet with an undeveloped basement. My oldest son loved hockey so we had a full size hockey net, baseball glove, a couple of orange floor hockey balls mask, goalie stick & a couple of regulation hockey sticks downstairs. Both my sons & I would  goof around taking shots. This would have been 94-95. I was 39, My oldest was 9 & my youngest 5.

One time, my oldest made a bunch of flukey saves on me when we were playing. I should have scored but he made at least 3 pretty nice saves one after another after another. Well, the competitive juices were flowing inside him showing up his father & he was getting cocky. He said, "C'mon Dad. Is that all you got??" And with every save he'd trash talk even more for a little kid. Then he says, "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, OLD MAN???" He called me an Old Man & I wasn't even 40 yet??? I thought, "Okay Hotshot, I'll show you!!"

So I laid into the stick as hard as I could with a slapshot & I nailed my son in the groin. It's an orange floor hockey ball that could sting & I whipped it pretty good. I didn't mean to hit him. I wanted to blow a few by him just to show him his Old Man ain't so old after all. So, my son's on the floor gasping in pain & turning different shades of colour on his face. I'm panicking worried he's hurt but not wanting him to cry or I'll get in supreme **** from my wife for being stupid. I'm telling him to take a deep breath & relax. Don't cry. Inside my head, I'm thinking, "If he cries I'm so dead!!"

Things calmed down after a few minutes & I said to both boys as my youngest watched the whole thing take place. "Don't tell Mom. This is just between us. DON'T TELL MOM!!' My oldest who had almost recovered said okay as he knew it wasn't intentional he wouldn't tell his Mom. My five year old said, "I won't tell either Dad". I thought, "Phew, I dodged a bullet!"

Suddenly my 5 year old goes running up the stairs into the kitchen yelling, "MOMMMM!! Dad hit .... in the nuts playing hockey & he hurt him!!" I hear the thumping of my wife's feet upstairs as she rushed to the basement, flew down the stairs & yelled, "What happened??" I told her that I hit our son accidentally in the nuts with a slapshot but he's fine. She asked me how I could have done that. I told the truth & said he called me an Old Man so I had to put him in his place. Was that ever the wrong answer!! 

If there was a prize for stupid husband answers of maybe all time that would have been a sure winner. She just looked at me angrily & said, "So, you're the adult here & upset that your 9 year old son called you old & you shot that ball so hard you hurt him??" I sheepishly said yes. & that my bruised ego got the best of me. At that point my son saved my bacon when he told his Mom that he was okay. I think he saw his Dad was sinking fast & took pity on me. She just looked at both of us & as she went back upstairs she said, "Boys. We should have had 2 girls."

When I coached football & both my sons were playing on different teams, we'd come home from our practices absolutely wired & we'd be so loud yelling, wrestling one another & banging around for about an hour after. Sometimes the brothers would start fighting & we'd have to calm them down. Sometimes I needed to be calmed down & not the kids. My wife still talks about that 20 years later. How crazy our house was when it came to sports. The three of us just laugh remembering what we were like. Miss those days.

Hope everyone had a Happy Fathers Day. 

Edited June 21, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

My dad sadly passed away a few years ago, but one of my fondest memories of him was when I turned five, he bought me my first chess set and board. The gift was nice, and anytime I asked him he would always play with me. I remember it fondly and it was a big part of growing up as a kid, he taught me the rules, and let me take moves back as a kid.

He never let me win.

I later found out this was a huge sticking point between him and my mom. My mom thought he should've let me win. I remember when I was about 12 I legitimately beat him for the first time... as I got older, I started to beat him more and more. I'm nowhere near as good of a player as I once was, but I still love a good game. Thanks for sticking to your guns old, you made the right call.

1 minute ago, Eternal optimist said:

My dad sadly passed away a few years ago, but one of my fondest memories of him was when I turned five, he bought me my first chess set and board. The gift was nice, and anytime I asked him he would always play with me. I remember it fondly and it was a big part of growing up as a kid, he taught me the rules, and let me take moves back as a kid.

He never let me win.

I later found out this was a huge sticking point between him and my mom. My mom thought he should've let me win. I remember when I was about 12 I legitimately beat him for the first time... as I got older, I started to beat him more and more. I'm nowhere near as good of a player as I once was, but I still love a good game. Thanks for sticking to your guns old, you made the right call.

You had to earn it. That was the life lesson he taught you. Things are seldom given in life. You have to earn them. 

Yesterday was my 12th Father’s Day without my dad. As the years have gone by I have said less publicly and reduced the “Facebook Tributes”. This same words over and over again just can’t express how much I miss him and am sorry he never got to meet my youngest. 

There are so many things about being a dad to an adult son and daughter that I never knew and had to puzzle out. When I think of it, my dad probably had to go through that as well. I also wish he had been around to see how his grandkidlets who he loved  turned out. It's been 25 years and I still miss him sometimes , but we are given memory that we might have roses in winter.

Edited June 21, 20214 yr by Tracker

Got a cameo from Willie J yesterday from my kids. It was fun. 

8 hours ago, Eternal optimist said:

My dad sadly passed away a few years ago, but one of my fondest memories of him was when I turned five, he bought me my first chess set and board. The gift was nice, and anytime I asked him he would always play with me. I remember it fondly and it was a big part of growing up as a kid, he taught me the rules, and let me take moves back as a kid.

He never let me win.

I later found out this was a huge sticking point between him and my mom. My mom thought he should've let me win. I remember when I was about 12 I legitimately beat him for the first time... as I got older, I started to beat him more and more. I'm nowhere near as good of a player as I once was, but I still love a good game. Thanks for sticking to your guns old, you made the right call.

My dad kicked the crap out of me at chess and ping pong for years and I kept coming back for more. Winning wasn't even a consideration at the start, just trying to get a good spike in once in a while or last more than ten moves. Always learning, always improving...

2 hours ago, nate007 said:

My dad kicked the crap out of me at chess and ping pong for years and I kept coming back for more. Winning wasn't even a consideration at the start, just trying to get a good spike in once in a while or last more than ten moves. Always learning, always improving...

Good life lesson!

15 hours ago, nate007 said:

My dad kicked the crap out of me at chess and ping pong for years and I kept coming back for more. Winning wasn't even a consideration at the start, just trying to get a good spike in once in a while or last more than ten moves. Always learning, always improving...

Yep, I remember one of the big things I first learnt was that every move should be both offensively and defensively minded. How important it was to subtly cover your advances and attacks, to ensure pieces had support etc. etc.