DadTalk

Letter from an absent Mum

An absent Mum writes to her children with ideas for Fathers Day

Dear children,

I am sorry I am away for Father’s Day but the opportunity to go away for a week and bask in the sun beside a pool with a glass of chilled wine & a good book was just too good to miss (and it was your Father’s idea!) But this means I won’t be there to nudge & suggest things you might like to do for Dad on ‘his’ special day, so before I go & leave you all to muddle through for a week here are my thoughts:

• Father’s Day is not about buying a random soap on a rope or an ornament that will collect dust & be quietly put away one day. It is about remembering who ‘Dad’ is and being thankful for all he does for you....he is the one who repairs your bikes, will drive you to your friends when you flutter your eyes at him, will kick the football and wrestle with you on the sofa, will watch Sci-Fi movies with you, will make you pancakes for breakfast, will commute on a train for hours so you can enjoy living in a nice home, and the one who chooses to be here with you while your Mum is off lazing around in the sun.
• Dad is not perfect (Mums are generally better at doing this). In reality, no one is - adults are just slightly older versions of children who are doing their best to raise you to become like us - or ideally, better than us. Our ultimate aim is to see you grow up to be happy adults who contribute to society and achieve all that you are capable of. We do our best but we will mess up and make mistakes.
• You don’t need to buy him anything but he would really appreciate it if you put some effort into thinking about how you could honour him on Father’s Day. Think outside the box & do something different - here are some ideas to get you started:
  • Take Dad for a walk - spend some one-to-one time with him (ok, take the dog along too.) In other words, make the effort to spend some time with him; don’t just hide in your bedrooms with earphones in.
  • Offer to arrange all the meals for the day - make up a menu to give him so he can see what you will be making. Think about this the day before though so you have time to ask him for the money to buy all the ingredients!
  • Make a card - much better than buying one, use your talents to draw or paint or stick & glue, write a poem, tell him how much you appreciate him - ‘I love you’ will cover it all if you get stuck.
  • Make a special breakfast tray - but not too early in the morning as you know how much he likes to lie in.
  • Vouchers - always a great gift for parents. Be creative, think of things you can do that will make Dads life easier e.g. promise to unload the dishwasher when it is ‘his’ turn, clean the car inside/out, tidy your room without complaining or taking a week to do it, weed the garden for him, do some housework, promise to cook a meal one night in the next week...
  • Sort all your digital photos into a mini-movie to show on the TV (well beyond my technical skills but I am sure you know how to do this!)
  • Put on a show - practice a dance/song/play together & perform it for him. Or, arrange a ‘movie night’ - make tickets & popcorn for the event.
  • Bake a cake, cookies, special dessert - AND clear up the mess afterwards!
  • Make a pact with your brothers & sisters to have no arguments all day, to only say nice things to and about each other all day, to remember your ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ and to generally be angel children.

Finally, do have fun with Dad. I will think of you all and hope you have a great time together. Please don’t build a trebuchet to fire flour and water bombs over the neighbour’s fence, this would worry me. You can build a table top trebuchet; I think I can live with that. Do remember to eat some green vegetables and clean your teeth.

With love,

Mum x

PS I love you.