Things My Dad Taught Me

Well, I thought this one would be funnier than the last, because my dad is such a goof, but when I got to thinking about it, I realized that I learned alot of great things from my dad too.

1. A great Dad is a girl's first hero.If a dad is involved in his daughter's life and she truly believes he loves her, no other man/boy measures up. It is unlikely that she will be tempted to look for love somewhere else, when her daddy at home is better than anyone else.

2. If you are going to hide special treats (i.e. candy), hide it in a place no one will find it. If your hiding place is found, don't deny that the stuff is yours, when it quite obviously is. Also, when your hiding place is found, get a new one. Don't keep "hiding" your candy in the same spot or you will find it disappearing quickly.

3."Show your work." This began when my dad was trying to help me with Algebra (bad idea, not very successful) He thought it was very important to show how I arrived at an answer. It is a matter of proof. It then extended into life. He taught me to be detailed and thorough. Take notes, get names, numbers and dates. Keep good records. You never know when you will need proof.

4. Work hard. My dad worked hard. He was always present in our lives, especially at important events, games, ceremonies, recitals.etc. But, he would make up for it by working late, late evenings. He still does. He might work until 3 in the morning, but he gets it done and is successful. My dad taught me to be diligent in work, that it pays you back.

5. How to play and play hard. My dad worked hard, but he also played hard. I remember waking up in the middle of the night one night to find a light on in the living room. I walked out there to find my dad playing Nintendo at 2 in the morning. He said he never got any other chance to play! My dad can be like a kid in a grown man's body. He taught me how to have fun. How to laugh and tease and enjoy life.

6. How to handle money. I started getting an allowance at a young age. I know some people think an allowance spoils kids, but I think it is worse when parents just buy their kids stuff, whenever they want. I had to help out around the house to get my allowance and my dad made me take out 10% for tithe. If I wanted something, I had to use my allowance. It taught me to budget and save. There were several times I had to save for months to buy something I really wanted. When I got older, my dad helped me open a bank account and credit card and taught me how to use them to establish good credit. He also taught me to have fun with money. Sometimes you just have to splurge and enjoy it, but not at the expense of going into debt. You handle money, you don't let money handle you.

7. To take responsibility. My dad taught me a very important lesson that I didn't fully appreciate for a while. He taught me not to justify myself. If I'm wrong. Accept responsibility, apologize, change, and move on. I hated this. Everytime I tried to make an excuse for something, he would say, "Don't justify yourself." I would always say I was just explaining... and he would say I was making excuses. This is a lesson that I have continued to learn since getting married. It is very, very hard. I'm still working on it.

8. Buckle up! My sisters and I had a bad habit of not buckling. So, my dad made us a deal. Every day all three of us were buckled, he put a quarter in a cup in his car. (He drove us to school every day) If he caught one of us unbuckled, he took out fifty cents. If we caught him unbuckled he put in a dollar. When there was enough money, we all went for ice cream. (Remember how strict my mom was with sugar?) This was a great bribe and worked very well. I feel weird now, if I am not wearing my seat belt.

9. Generosity. My dad loves to give and do for others. He gets so much pleasure out of spending money on other people. I'm not so good at this. I would much rather spend on myself : )

10. Date night. My dad took my mom out on "dates" once a week. I'm not really sure if this was his idea or hers, but they made time once a week to spend time together, alone, doing something nice.

11. The gift of time. One of the greatest gifts to give to anyone is the gift of time. In fact I think he so instilled this in me, that now it is how I measure love. It's my love language. I have so many memories of my dad deliberately making time to spend with me. "Lunch dates" He would come to my school and eat lunch with me there or take me out somewhere. In the evenings, he sat down with me on the couch and read Bible stories to me. During storms, I would sit on his lap in the rocking chair in the living room in the dark and we would just sit and watch the rain and lighting ( Needless to say, I love storms.), some nights, he would rock me to sleep, singing songs he made up just for me and my sisters. I still remember them and hope to sing them to my kids someday. He was always there at our games, recitals, performances etc. He chose to make time for us. So this is why number 1 is true. My dad was my hero (along with my grampa) Until, I met my husband, no one else even measured close to him. Thankfully, my husband measures love with time too!

Sorry this one wasn't funny as promised. I just realized, that my dad taught me more than I realized.