in honor of the man who taught me to ride a bike

dads are important. let's face it, there is nothing + no one that can compare to a strong father figure. i'm going to be forward with you, my dad is quite possibly the best. and today is father's day so it's like, why not use it as an excuse to publicly brag about how great he is? 

:: A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED. i’m fairly certain benjamin franklin coined that phrase (see what I did there?) but for the sake of this post, this is the philosophy of brad. if there is anything I learned from my dad it’s that it is better to have money than spend money. be smart with your money; there is no luxury in the world that can replace financial security.

:: MEN AREN’T ABOVE DISHES. my dad did + still does dishes all the time (without even being asked!). not only showing my mother how much he loves her but that the home is a family effort and no one is above anyone else’s job. pull your weight and find joy in serving your family members.

:: IT’S OKAY TO USE YOUR CHILDREN AS FREE SLAVE LABOR. my dad did it for years. and let me tell you, it wasn’t always fun in the moment but it taught me the value of hard work. there is no need to pay other people to do something you could do for youself, or for that matter, seven children could do for yourself.*

it needs to be noted that he never actually put us to work without working himself. if he asked me to pull weeds, i knew that he would by my side pulling too. he led by example.

:: LEARN TO SAY SORRY. a man is not a man until he knows how to say sorry + admit his mistakes. that being said, my dad is the manliest man you ever did meet. he is quick to ask for forgiveness and even quicker to learn from his mistakes.

:: ROUGH HOUSE + PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS. i cannot begin to tell you how many games of ultimate tag, towel whipping + balcony dodge ball my dad participated in, quite competitively I might add. inevitably my mom would have to settle us down before we demolished every and all things breakable. those were some of my fondest memories. learning to be tough, play hard, and most of all, laugh. no matter how tired, how many hours he had worked, how many things he had to do, he had all the time in the world when it came to time with his children.

:: CREATE MEMORIES. have you ever seen the toy spider nailed to the side of the 51? have you ever trespassed to explore an abandoned race track from the seventies? (don’t worry, the cops let us off easy. we even got to sit in the back of the cop car!) do you get a tootsie pop every single time you pass the QT off of fifty first ave?

:: LOVE YOUR WIFE (specifically in front of your children). if i had a penny for every time I heard my dad say he loved my mom, kiss my mom and/or bring surprise flowers home for my mom, i would be on the fast track to early retirement. in hindsight, it was such a comfort that i took for granted growing in a home where i knew my dad loved my mom and was eager to profess it to the world.

:: SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY. even if it means buying a one hundred dollar stuffed monkey for your daughter who accomplished a task you bet her she couldn’t. (let it be known there was some minor cheating displayed in this story as an act of sibling loyalty, but never once did he complain or make an excuse).  

:: LOOSEN UP THE BUSINESS TIE. if this means sagging your pants with your hat turned sideways claiming to be the “vanilla gorilla” or throwing on an alice cooper wig and jamming out to guitar hero, then so be it. take time to be silly and have fun. which leads me to my last and most important point.

:: KEEP YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. my dad works hard and has provided for his family but never once did work proceed family. even when I genuinely tried to let him know i was okay with him not making it to a game or concert because i knew how busy he was, regardless of the meetings he had to reschedule or the sleep he lost catching up with the work that got delayed, he made it to every game and every concert. it wasn’t until i looked out into the stands and saw him cheering me on that i realized i really did care if he made it to my game. not necessarily to see my play, but to prove to me that i was one of his top priorities.

so there you have it. i have the best dad in the world and if i end up being half the person he is than i have done some amazing things for myself. also, future husband, you have dauntingly large shoes to fill.

happy father’s day!