Wow! What a statement. No matter what kind of a man a Father is, a child will naturally look to him for his guidance and acceptance - and work for it if it isn't there - no matter the age of that child, be it 8 or 38. This doesn't lessen the role a Mother has in the life of her child/children, it's just that a Mother is somehow always there. Maybe carrying a child inside of our bodies provides a different kind of bond.
Dads are cool! The dilemma of the single Mom - in fact, any Mom, really. The kids love Mom, they adore her, they go to her with their secrets, their broken hearts, their aches and pains, but Dads are just cool. They're so much fun. They're not so stuck on routine and they don't sweat the small stuff - they'll even sneak you a biscuit before bed - after you've brushed our teeth, and behind Mom's back.
Despite the s**t that S and I are going through, I made sure today, on Father's Day, to let him know that he's an awesome Dad. He's really chilled. Not much phases S, not on the surface anyway. He can look at a situation way more objectively than I can. I do, and always will, rely on S to keep things at ground level, especially as our girls grow and enter their 'tweens'. No shrieking and finger-pointing from him! He's also going to be much better than I will at homework, maybe not English - or even actually getting homework done - but certainly with projects and technical stuff - like how to use an iPad ;-) He's crazy about our girls, and they'll never have reason to doubt his love or his commitment to them.
I've missed my own Dad today. Although he's close by - Pietermaritzburg - he seems so far away. It's been 6 months since I've spent any real time with him and so much has happened in those 6 months.
My Dad's also really laid back. I mean, stuff worries him, the same way it does anyone else, but he deals with it differently. Internalises it a lot.
Since S and I have separated, I've come to understand and appreciate my own parents a little more, and that has really helped me through the last few months - it's kind of given me something to relate to, experiences to draw from. I know that no matter how much fun Dad is to be around, that Mom never ever actually takes the back seat. There are just different times in our lives when we can relate to, and rely on, each parent for something different. I have great memories of my Dad - baking biscuits for him as a kid, caravan trips, riding home in the bakkie singing our favourite songs, looking for pookies in the trees at night, all the time he spent completing my science windmill project, giggling at his clumsiness (show him a crack in the floor and he'll still trip over it!), his nutty sense of humour (which is probably where mine comes from), him sitting up into the early hours of the morning waiting for me to come home during my party days in Pmb - as well as him not allowing me to skip work to go with a good-looking boy who arrived on our doorstep one day to take me to Bulwer to see the freshly fallen snow!
More recently, I remember the look in his eyes the first times he met his grandaughters. They love their Pops and I know he's loving them more and more as they grow into little people - and can share his jokes with him.
Love you Dad xx
He is a very cool Dad, our ciV...
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