Father’s Day is here! The big day where we shout from the rooftops (or on social media) how awesome our Dads are and all they do for us. Dare I mention the bad jokes they love to throw out every now and then? Let’s hope there’s a minimum of those today…

My Dad (Pete) is a big softy, pretends like he’s not but he totally is. All the grandkids have him wrapped around his little finger. And whilst he never seems to get the words right for those nursery rhymes, the kids are still entertained and love the songs. I still don’t know the proper tune for Five Little Ducks as it’s been sung wrong so many times now.

Anyway, below is little appreciation post I wrote for my Dad, a few things I’ve learnt from him over the years. If you would like to keep reading please do but if you don’t then I urge you take the time to write something about your Dad or the father figure in your life. It’s a lovely process.

Happy Father’s Day!

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Work hard, be proud

From a young age I remember Dad was always working hard to provide for our family. He was a builder and architect for many years before we left Albany and he loved it. He had a successful business and took pride in his workmanship which is a trait that has been instilled in me. I’ve had many jobs over the years and I’ve always put my heart and soul into everything I do because I want to do the best job I can, and I take a lot of pride in my work.

Whilst I’m a bit more reserved in the self-praise I can assure you Dad isn’t shy about telling us about his achievements. Whenever we drive past buildings or houses he’s built you can guarantee he’ll say, “I built that” and would launch into the ins and outs of the particular job, even though he’s said it a thousand times before. But he’s proud of what he accomplished and so he should be. I’m glad he taught me to be proud of my work. I should probably try a bit of his self-praise approach too.

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A sense of humour is important

Dad LOVES a joke. But not just any old Dad Joke, he loves to tell those jokes that have a big story in it, gets his audience invested and then come through with the punchline. He loves it when people laugh at his jokes. I will admit he’s very good at it, even though sometimes (as all kids do with their parents) I roll my eyes and chide him for being inappropriate in public. Unlike me who generally stuffs up the punchline for any joke, Dad is a natural.

Good joke telling it NOT what I’ve learnt from Dad however I have learnt to not take everything so seriously. I love that I have Dad’s sense of humour. I don’t get offended by anything and I can banter with the best of them. Throw that humour in with how loud we are and you can see why our family dinners are not for the faint hearted – jokes and inappropriate comments are thrown about carelessly but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I blame Dad all the time but he loves the chaos.

Keep things light and have a laugh. Simple really.

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Capture the moments

From a young age I can remember Dad always had the camera out capturing our every move. We have so many photos and videos of birthdays, holidays, first days at school, Christmas mornings, dress ups and so much more. I’m sure most parents do this for their kids, but Dad loves being the director so we have boxes full of prints and tapes from over the years. Don’t even ask about the slides he has from his travels in the 70’s, the amount of slideshows we sat through are countless.

Now with the technology that allows him to have a camera in his phone he is still taking photos of everything, which means we have photos of random family moments when no one else thinks to take a photo. All the small moments end up being a part of your big memories, and they should be captured so you have the memories when life passes you by. Make sure you take the time to snap those moments to keep forever. Don’t have to spend all the time on your phone, just take a quick photo to capture the time and then get back to enjoying moment.

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Keep being creative

Pete fancies himself as a bit of an artist, and I have to admit he’s actually not that bad! But we don’t like to remind him too much as he’ll brag about how good he is. He drew a kingfisher once and we told him it looked awesome so now every time we see it he reminds us how good it is.

He’s always been great at drawing, a much-needed skill for designing houses, but in the last year he’s started painting more and more and he’s got quite the gallery now! Everything from flowers, landscapes to birds and people (still has a way to go when painting the faces but at least he gives it a try), his paintings are getting out of control. But it reminds me that we need to keep that creative side flowing, even if we’re not great at something, just give it a go.

Try something new and you might just surprise yourself. Not to mention the health benefits that come from using the creative side of your brain. Some people use creativity as a form of meditation, it calms the mind and can reduce stress and anxiety. Something most of us need these days. I enjoy painting but I’m not great at it, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll just keep painting and writing and being creative in my own little world.

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Family and food – a big, fat, fun memory

This final one has been adapted from the similar piece I wrote for Mum on Mother’s Day. Whilst Mum did most of the cooking when I was growing up, both family and food is still relevant and something Dad finds important too. Dad comes from a big Italian family and family time with the extended gang is one of my favourite memories from my younger years. I remember lots of talking (LOUD talking), mismatched tables, chairs and dinnerware being thrown together in a bid to fit everyone in for lunch. And the food – bowls of pasta, crumbed meats, cheeses, cold meats, simple salads – always an amazing feast served up for a tribe of people. It’s a memory that’s etched in my brain forever and possibly where my love of long table lunches comes from.

We still do our big lunches with my immediate family but just not as many people. It’s still extremely loud and there’s always way too much food but I love it. Even though Mum is remarried, we all come together to catch up, Dad included. It’s a bizarre concept to outsiders and yes, it’s completely bonkers most of the time as we’re all bloody mad, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m glad we take the time to be together as life gets pretty hectic and sometimes we forget to take stock of what’s really important. Being around family is one of my favourite things and now there’s three little grandkids in the mix it just keeps getting better and better.. and louder and louder!

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Other things I love about my Dad… he’s always in a good mood, he wants to learn new things, started a tradition of bringing the grandkids fruit when he visits (reminds me of my Nonno), he’s generous and, after all these years, still loves to freak people out with his missing finger #classicdadgags

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there.

Grab a beer and put your feet up.

You bloody deserve it.

xx