Happy Father's Day

[stroker]

Just thought I'd share the trepidation as I go through my first one...

[trish]

How sweet! :D Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads.

[dando]

Just thought I'd share the trepidation as I go through my first one...

May you not touch a dirty diaper today. ;) Day starts with Le Mans, followed by some pool action, lawn mowing :(, then US Open and NBA Finals game 5. :thumbup:

Happy Father's Day y'all!


My father established our relationship when I was seven years old. He looked at me and said, "You know, I brought you in this world, and I can take you out. And it don't make no difference to me, I'll make another one look just like you."

-Bill Cosby "Himself"

:D

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

Just thought I'd share the trepidation as I go through my first one...

Good for you :thumbup:

All I asked is to be left to watch LeMans and read the NYT

On the bummer side I have five hours of conference calls to Oz starting at 6pm and my own Dad is in the hospital will appendix issues.

[stroker]

went to the local 21st (or was it 29th?) annual Mid-Missouri Moparfest with the munchkin. She fell asleep and missed all the hardware, but I'm hoping her first words are "It's a Hemi!"

:D

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming of cleaning house.

[meadors]

I spent most of the day with my seventeen year old son. Showed him how to change rear brake shoes and talked about how much more fun we will have when his step mom moves out.:D Free again :cool:

[TravelGal]

It's been a while since anyone updated this thread but I wanted to chirp in and say a Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.

If there is ONE thing I have learned from reading OC all these years is that it is peopled by strong, intelligent, good fathers who all care deeply about their children. Good on ya boys. I'm glad I know ya. :thumbup:

[WickerBill]

My 11 year old Luke got me this t-shirt:

http://www.8ball.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/217x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/_/i_am_your_father_-_blk_mens_cu_5_1.jpg

[stroker]

It's pretty ironic. My two girls 5 and 3 are with their mom today as she moved out 10 months ago. I was sitting in church by myself this morning feeling sorry for myself seeing all the various Dads wandering around with their little girls dressed in their Sunday best. I guess the lesson is to savor what you've got because you never know when it's going to be taken from you. :cry:

I hate to be maudlin but that's where I am. I'm still working on Mom trying to get her to come home, but it doesn't look too hopeful. I guess I should find solace in that I'm still Daddy to two terrific little girls with great taste in cars...;)
456

457

[TravelGal]

They sure are cute. And I don't mean just the cars.

It's tough. My heart breaks for you, reading this. :( Life is so hard. I've decided the key is be down when you need to be down but then, as you did, pull yourself back up again see the positives. You're going to have many beautiful memories made with those those two darling gals.

[cameraman]

Day starts with Le Mans, followed by some pool action, lawn mowing


Good for you :thumbup:

All I asked is to be left to watch LeMans and read the NYT



You two in some kind of time warp? The race is next week.
You two about gave me a damned heart attack:irked:

[TravelGal]

You two in some kind of time warp? The race is next week.
You two about gave me a damned heart attack:irked:

CM, it happens to me. Be sure to read the fine print. ;) The thread is from 2008.

[Andrew Longman]

You two in some kind of time warp? The race is next week.
You two about gave me a damned heart attack:irked:note the time stamp. That was from 5 years ago

But fwiw a few days ago I thought Lemans was this weekend for reasons I don't recall. I find as a father I don't recall a lot. :D

[dando]

I hear ya, stroker. Be thankful for what you have. Last year I was cruising Disneyland on Father's Day as a 'happy' family of four. Now I get 18 hours/week with my girls. I was fortunate enough to have them for sleepovers Fri and last night. For that, I am grateful. I've spent A LOT of time feeling sorry the past 6 mos.+... A LOT of time looking up @ the bottom of shoes. Just keep going. It's for them, ya know. Just keep doing right by them.

-Kevin

EDIT: sorry for the pic orientation. Pic is vertical on my Mac, but cattywampus when I uploaded it. My first pic upload here. :shrug:

[Andrew Longman]

EDIT: sorry for the pic orientation. Pic is vertical on my Mac, but cattywampus when I uploaded it. My first pic upload here. :shrug:Want some help with this? I do youtube links too. ;)

TG: Thanks for thinking of us dads and your kind words this day. :D

Fatherhood isn't always easy and all smiles. I was reminded of this today when I talked to a friend from the airport today as I was traveling to Houston for work. (I called my Dad from there as well rather than hang with him today)

My friend had expected to spend the day with his stepson's daughter at a karate competition. He is crazy about her and raising the 10 year old girl because his stepson and wife are pretty sad addicts and lost custody of her. My friend is 65 and thought he was going to retire this year. Instead he went back to work to be able to afford raise one more kid.

I've met the stepson and he is a pretty good 30 year old "kid" who stopped growing up in middleschool when he started using drugs and alcohol. He just hasn't been able to break a cycle of relapse.

Anyway, it turns out the stepson worked out today to show he was well enough to take the girl to her competition.

So my friend is grateful today he was able to be there for the girl and his stepson if they needed him.

And is grateful that his stepson is well enough (for today anyway) to spend the day with his daughter.

And he is grateful the daughter wants to spend time today with her dad.

And he is grateful that the love shown today is likely to be remembered for a lifetime regardless of whatever happens tomorrow and beyond.

I found that helped me keep in mind that fatherhood is easy (and easy to take for granted) when your kids make you breakfast and lunch and the only real hardship is you need to get on an airplane midday to continue to provide for them (like me).

Kevin and Stroker, I am really pretty sure you are actually doing great for your girls. :thumbup:

[cameraman]

This software needs a necromancy warning system. A flashing red "posted on" date when you are reading a thread that is old enough to attend elementary school...

[Insomniac]

This software needs a necromancy warning system. A flashing red "posted on" date when you are reading a thread that is old enough to attend elementary school...

The forum has a "Go to first new post" feature. Click the down arrow next to the thread name and you won't see the old stuff unless you scroll up.

On topic: stroker, that story is heart-breaking. You have amazing strength and I hope you're able to spend the next Father's Day with your girls.

[Anteater]

And he is grateful that the love shown today is likely to be remembered for a lifetime regardless of whatever happens tomorrow and beyond.

Those are true words...Yesterday was my first Father's Day without a living dad; I spent it remembering all the good times we shared, the things that Dad taught me, and looking out at the ocean where we used to sail our boat.

Stroker and Dando, I'm sorry that your families are split up, but I'll bet that your little girls treasure the time spent with you, and have happy memories of it.

[Indy]

My heart goes out to both of you guys. I hope things improve for you.

[Kiwifan]

We have a different date for Fathers Day here in NZ. The only way I can remember Mothers Day is that it is 9 months after Fathers Day. :D :o

On a side note thinking of all you guys with a split marriage with kids involved, gotta be tough. :thumbup:

[Gnam]

On Sunday, I watched a guy in a park walk up and steal a donut out of one of those huge pink cardboard boxes. When the lady guarding them admonished him in a condescending tone as if he were a small child, a disembodied voice from behind a hedge, which I assume was his wife, lept to his defense with a diplomatic, tension cutting laugh and said, "It is Father's Day. They're allowed to do whatever they want."

This still made him sound like a small child, but with bad manners and a sense of entitlement. I also took it as sworn testimony that this fellow spent the other 364 days a year explicitly 'not' doing whatever he wanted.

What was interesting though was the guy's reaction as he stood in the center of the brief but noisy drama he had set in motion. He didn't make an excuse, " I thought these were for everyone," or agree with his wife, "I'm an idiot." He didn't put it back, nor did he offer a sheepish "Sorry." Instead, he stood there quietly and ate the donut.

It was a privilege to watch a master of the Fatherly Arts in action.

[cameraman]

Filed under make lemonade when handed lemons...

I'm a couple of years into the whole divorced father thing and I have to say that our true joint custody deal is working quite well. My son pingpongs between houses, 4 nights at my place and 4 nights at his mom's. (We live about three miles apart.) We make modifications to fit vacations and the like but keep it as close to 50:50 as humanly possible. He's currently in elementary school and for us parents it sort of works out to four days of getting things done around the house & at work and fours days of not quite so much.

Everyone in the divorce/child rearing/education/psych "industries" thought the plan was insane and quite happily told us so but it has worked out as well as we could have hoped.

[Elmo T]

I don't want to sound like I am channeling Dr. Phil, but...

Being a husband or partner to the mother of your kids has nothing to do with being a good Dad.

And the same can be said for the wife/mothers.

Plenty of husbands who a bad fathers - but there are plenty of wonderful single Dads too. :thumbup:

[stroker]

Filed under make lemonade when handed lemons...

I'm a couple of years into the whole divorced father thing and I have to say that our true joint custody deal is working quite well. My son pingpongs between houses, 4 nights at my place and 4 nights at his mom's. (We live about three miles apart.) We make modifications to fit vacations and the like but keep it as close to 50:50 as humanly possible. He's currently in elementary school and for us parents it sort of works out to four days of getting things done around the house & at work and fours days of not quite so much.

Everyone in the divorce/child rearing/education/psych "industries" thought the plan was insane and quite happily told us so but it has worked out as well as we could have hoped.

That's very close to what we're doing. It seems to work for us, but it doesn't strike me as our best option long term...

[dando]

Filed under make lemonade when handed lemons...

I'm a couple of years into the whole divorced father thing and I have to say that our true joint custody deal is working quite well. My son pingpongs between houses, 4 nights at my place and 4 nights at his mom's. (We live about three miles apart.) We make modifications to fit vacations and the like but keep it as close to 50:50 as humanly possible. He's currently in elementary school and for us parents it sort of works out to four days of getting things done around the house & at work and fours days of not quite so much.

Everyone in the divorce/child rearing/education/psych "industries" thought the plan was insane and quite happily told us so but it has worked out as well as we could have hoped.

Dude, I'm glad it works out like that for some. The tales I could tell of this completely dysfunctional divorce. The saddest part is the long term effects it will have on the girls. Financially and emotionally. :(

-Kevin

[Indy]

I don't know if this will help you guys with the guilt, but my parents were divorced after I was grown, and I think it was MORE devastating. Kids can and will adapt, and probably the younger the better. It never goes back to normal for anyone, but it seems that most people I know are children of divorce, and they do just fine.

By the way, my mother and father were not best friends after the divorce but now they get along well. Both are remarried and considerably happier than they were before, and seeing that result is really how I healed over the whole thing. Now we have two wonderful new step-grandparents in our children's lives, everyone is happy, and there is more love to go around.

[Indy]

On Sunday, I watched a guy in a park walk up and steal a donut...

I would have made him put it back. But I am a jerk like that. :laugh:

[G.]

On Sunday, I watched a guy in a park walk up and steal a donut out of one of those huge pink cardboard boxes. When the lady guarding them admonished him in a condescending tone as if he were a small child, a disembodied voice from behind a hedge, which I assume was his wife, lept to his defense with a diplomatic, tension cutting laugh and said, "It is Father's Day. They're allowed to do whatever they want."

This still made him sound like a small child, but with bad manners and a sense of entitlement. I also took it as sworn testimony that this fellow spent the other 364 days a year explicitly 'not' doing whatever he wanted.

What was interesting though was the guy's reaction as he stood in the center of the brief but noisy drama he had set in motion. He didn't make an excuse, " I thought these were for everyone," or agree with his wife, "I'm an idiot." He didn't put it back, nor did he offer a sheepish "Sorry." Instead, he stood there quietly and ate the donut.

It was a privilege to watch a master of the Fatherly Arts in action.

This is the only image of this exchange that I can muster.

http://i.imgur.com/ppQ85Dq.gif