We all make fun of our dads now and then, but at the end of the day, we love the awkward little things they do. The old phrases they use, that shirt they never should have bought, and all their other odd habits are ultimately what make them our fathers. This Father's Day, I'd like to celebrate the weird by sharing my favorite "dad-isms."
1. Repeating the same story until you can tell it yourself.
Some of my favorite stories of my dad’s come from his many adventures at the Cincinnati Zoo, such as the story of my oldest brother feeding the giraffes when he was very young. He sat on my dad’s shoulders, a clump of bread clutched in his tiny fist, reaching bravely towards the giraffe’s mouth. However, the giraffe shifted at the last minute, and the bread ended up in its nose! Of course, the giraffe was shocked. Only a few seconds passed before it had sneezed the bread out and into my dad’s face.
2. Having unconventional tips and tricks for everything.
When my dad makes a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, he “bevels the edges” after putting it together by scraping off the excess along the sides. Supposedly, this makes for less of a mess. When he puts ice in his drink, he always uses two or more pieces because he believes they will keep each other cooler and, therefore, not melt so quickly. When he does the laundry, he turns everything inside-out so that the visible parts will take less damage. I would never think to do any of these things, but they do make a whole lot of sense.
3. Taking pictures of weird things or at weird times.
For example, consider this picture of my younger brother. The first natural instinct would be to run to the baby, right? Well, in my father's case, that was the second thought. The first was to grab the camera before the baby fell and before my mother got home.
4. Watching primarily documentaries and obscure foreign movies.
It’s an ongoing joke in my family that on Sunday afternoons, we always walk in the door to find my father watching a movie with subtitles and sometimes even in a different language than the week before. When he watches movies in English, they are usually documentaries about ancient history, geology, or astronomy. He gets so excited about new discoveries or beautiful images that he often has to call the rest of the family to come check it out.
Sometimes it's hard to understand why dads do the things they do. Sometimes they're gross or annoying or even embarrassing. We don't always get along with our dads; we disagree, we argue, we yell. However, when we can step away from those moments that drive us crazy, it's pretty natural to realize that we aren't so different. After all, they're our fathers; a piece of them resides within us, oddities and all. I don't know about you, but I don't thank my dad enough for all that he does or for the piece of me that is him. So thank you Dad, for your crazy stories, for your amazing PB&J, for capturing the strange and beautiful parts of life, and for the things you have taught me. Thank you for my urge to tell stories, for my strategies and routines, for so much of my outlook on this world, and for my love of learning. Thank you, Dad, for being strange and wonderful, and my father.
