Tag Archives: fathers day

Guy Talk: Dads, Hug Your Daughters

Hugo SchwyzerJune 15, 2011 //

“I was always daddy’s little girl. We did everything together. He was my hero. My father was always there with a hug for me; when I was little, he let me climb all over him like he was a jungle gym.
And then my body changed. I developed early; I had boobs by 11. And all of a sudden, my Dad stopped hugging me or touching me. He went overnight from being my best friend to being remote and critical.”

I read that in a student’s journal earlier this semester (quoted with permission). I’ve read and heard similar things countless times over the course of nearly 20 years teaching gender studies and doing youth ministry. Ask any family therapist who works with teen girls, and they’ll report the same thing I’ve heard: story after story of fathers withdrawing physical affection as soon as their daughters hit puberty. Keep reading »

Barack Obama On Being A Dad

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJune 13, 2011 //

“I grew up without a father around. I have certain memories of him taking me to my first jazz concert and giving me my first basketball as a Christmas present. But he left when I was two years old. And even though my sister and I were lucky enough to be raised by a wonderful mother and caring grandparents, I always felt his absence and wondered what it would have been like if he had been a greater presence in my life. I still do. It is perhaps for this reason that fatherhood is so important to me, and why I’ve tried so hard to be there for my own children.”

—Barack Obama shares his thoughts on being a dad in an essay in the latest issue of People, just in time for Father’s Day. Man, this is one adorable family. Keep reading »

The 5 Best Pieces Of Advice My Dad Ever Gave Me

Amelia McDonell-ParryJune 13, 2011 //

This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. I’ll be honest; Father’s Day has been varying degrees of difficult for me over the last 10 years. In my adulthood, my dad and I (that’s us on the left — bowl cut circle 1984!) have had a tough, up-and-down relationship for a variety of reasons (that I won’t get into because I have a therapist I pay to listen to such things!). In the last eight months, however, we’ve managed to develop the most genuine, sincere, and respectful relationship we’ve had in years. How? I think there are two big reasons: 1) we’ve forgiven each other for things that happened in the past and 2) we haven’t tried to recreate the relationship we had before, instead focusing on getting to know each other as people now. It’s far from perfect and I still miss the relationship we used to have, but it has been a relief to let go of the past and to focus on the future.

With that in mind, in honor of Father’s Day, I decided to share the top five pieces of advice my dad has given me over the years. (He has actually given me a lot more than five, but much of it would probably rub the general population the wrong way — he is a Communist-leaning lefty with a taste for psychedelics, after all.) Share your favorite bit of fatherly advice in the comments. Keep reading »

Texas Chick-Fil-A Hosting Daddy-Daughter “Date Night”

Jessica WakemanJune 9, 2011 //

Saturday June 18 will be a creepy evening in the Dallas/Fort Worth area: it’s Daddy-Daughter Date Night at Chick-Fil-A. Dads and daughters can RSVP for tables at participating restaurants on DaddyDaughterDate.com, a site so festooned with red hearts, filigree and curlicue script that it wouldn’t look out of place on Valentine’s Day. Even though June 18 is the day before Father’s Day.

Anyone else got a case of the icks yet? Keep reading »

Father’s Day: I Now Appreciate My Dad’s Advice

Lauren GoldJune 20, 2010 //

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad has been a constant, loving resource with lots of study tips, helpful hints, and words of advice. Countless conversations after fights with my siblings and late-night study sessions before final exams taught me the most important lesson: parents really are your best friends in the world. The “dad-isms” and clichés that I once tried to ignore and/or make fun of are now the phrases I use on a daily basis to help make decisions or dole out advice to my friends. So here are the words I live by, thanks to my dad. Keep reading »

5 Creative Gifts To Make For Dad This Father’s Day

Carli Alexa BlauJune 19, 2010 //

Father’s Day is, surprise! tomorrow, but with a busy week at work, finding the time to shop around for the perfect gift isn’t easy. Clearly — you have less than 24 hours to come up with something interesting and how many times can you give Dad a collared shirt and tie? After the jump, find five creative things you can make for your dad this year instead of buying another item for his closet. Plus, we’re sharing some fool-proof recipes he’ll absolutely love. Keep reading »

And The Prize Goes To … The Worst Father’s Day Gift

Annika HarrisJune 18, 2010 //

Last week, we asked you to reveal the worst gift you ever gave your dad for Father’s Day, in the hopes of winning a $100 Nautica gift card. I thought I’d given my dad some really horrible gifts, but you all had me LOLing at the ridiculousness of your gifts. But there can only be one winner … and the prize goes to mannequin for this comment:

“Oh geez … I went through an extended ‘phase’ of giving my dad candles for any gift-giving occasion. I knew darn well he didn’t want candles, but I liked to eat them, yep … I ate candles when I was little.
I couldn’t get away with giving them to my mom because she liked candles. Dad, however, would always make an excuse to graciously give me back the candle. At which point I would eat the candle.
Why did they let me eat candles?”

Read four honorable mentions after the jump. Keep reading »

Would You Write A Dating Testimonial For Your Dad?

Susannah BreslinJune 18, 2010 //

Over at Slate, advice columnist Dear Prudence is answering Father’s Day questions, and the last one is a real doozy. The advice-seeker, On-the-Market Dad, is a 38-year-old man who received an email from an online dating service requesting he write a dating testimonial for his father. First of all, write a dating testimonial for your dad? Weird. In any case, OMD’s father is 70, and the son’s problem is that even if he did write the testimonial, it wouldn’t exactly be glowing. His parents are divorced, and, he says, “I believe he’s a good person at heart, but he’s got some psychological problems that have caused him to not always be there for me and to treat my family negatively.” Yet, he doesn’t want to say no, for fear of insulting his dad. Prudie advises he decline, despite his father’s potential negative reaction. Um, happy Father’s Day? Is asking your kid to write an online dating testimonial for you cool or creepy? Should the son have dutifully done his father’s bidding or tell his dad no way? What would you have told OMD to do? [Slate] Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I Want To Be Like My Dad

Angela TungJune 18, 2010 //

My father doesn’t like trying anything new. Paying bills for instance. He still writes checks and sends them snail mail. “You can pay everything online now,” I’ve told him. “It’s faster and you don’t have to use stamps.”

He refuses, though he’s fairly internet-savvy, because he’s paid bills this way for the past 30 years, dammit, and that’s the way he’s going to keep paying them. He can get impatient. His stories can go on forever. He can be antisocial and crabby.

I want to be just like him when I grow up. Keep reading »

Questions For Our Fathers: Kate’s Dad

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJune 17, 2010 //

In honor of Father’s Day we’re interviewing our dads to find out how their lives changed when we were born and what they learned about love and life as a parent. Today, Kate’s dad.

The other day, I ran across this photo of my family and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, even though I have an unfortunate bowl cut in it. My family is just amazing. You’ve seen my sister’s Halloween costume and met my mom for Mother’s Day, so since Father’s Day is coming up this weekend, I wanted to sit down with my dad—aka, the walking encyclopedia of everything—and ask him about his thoughts on being a parent. What he had to say was extremely interesting, and got me choked up. Oh, and I love that he, of course, referenced the two-year period in life where I played basketball. Yes, I went to Mike Krzyzewski’s basketball camp and my dad couldn’t have been prouder. Keep reading »

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