By: Rita Doctor

I like how one poet describes fathers, “Dads are the most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, and singers of song.”

Gone are the old days when dads are just the strong men in the house. These days, a lot of dads are getting more hands on and becoming better at multitasking like mom. Because reality is, raising children is not just a mom’s job. Whether it’s parenting together or sharing the housework, moms and dads surely make a great team. But one thing that most dads are really good at is teaching us the basic life skills. They're great in teaching us a broad spectrum of things from riding a bike to changing the tires, light bulbs and faucets to hammering down a nail and lighting a campfire, and a whole lot more.

Dad Jokes

Dads crack the funniest jokes. Okay, sometimes the corniest but you have to admit that they do spill out humor like nobody can.  

Why can’t a leopard hide? Because he’s always spotted.

Why are spiders so smart?  They can find everything on the web. 

Why is Peter Pan always flying? Because he Neverlands. 

Sometimes you just scratch your head wondering, where do they get these jokes?  Whether silly or really hilarious, we appreciate dad jokes because the strong and protective man of the house shows off his lighter side and makes an effort (sometimes way too much) to put a smile across our faces.

Dads are superheroes in a child’s eyes

Jim Valvano, an American college basketball player once said “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”  I read somewhere that “every son’s first superhero is his father.”  Imagine the effect on your child when his superhero believes in him, that has got to be one of life’s greatest confidence boosters!

Dads have a unique and sometimes obnoxious way of dealing with things

My sister-in-law was stressing over teaching her kids do their homework after a long day at work.  So one time he asked my brother to help out their children with their assignment.  Their kids completed their homework with ease. No shouting, no disorder, no commotion. Later on my sister-in-law found out that my brother answered the assignments himself and just asked the kids to copy the same in their notebooks.  Not really a good example but I’m sure that my nephew and nieces will remember this about their Dad.

Teaching Life Lessons

I was about 8 years old and my Dad and I were eating in a restaurant.  After we finished our meal, he surreptitiously told me that he didn’t have money to pay for our bill.  To prove his claim, he even showed me his wallet with NO money in it. To say that I got scared is an understatement.  The thought of doing the dishes for the entire restaurant was just too much for an 8 year-old.  My Dad then asked me to pray with him for God to provide us the money to pay for our meal.  You bet I prayed. I prayed really hard – like a little girl has never prayed before. After our prayer, he was beaming while showing me that his wallet was already full of money.  A miracle indeed! Yeah, I know my Dad hid the money and to make me believe that prayers do wonders. But that instance instilled in me that when things spin out of control, there is a God who we can call onto who can turn things around. 

Sacrifices

In 2017, there was a photo of a father with his two kids eating in a fast food chain in the Philippines.  His two girls were enjoying their meal and the father was just looking at them.  Truth is, the man is a street vendor and he didn’t have enough money to buy food for himself but had very much wanted to give this small treat to his children.   Turned out that the Dad suffered from a mild stroke few years prior to this viral photo and his wife left him to fend for their two daughters. 

The  sacrifices we make for our kids do not go unnoticed.  They may not seem to matter to them now but they see every single selfless act that you do and believe it or not, they value them. And they remember them.

To all great Daddy Pandy out there, thanks for all the laughter and sacrifices. You rock!