Dadisms...

Today marks one month since my father passed away.  I really don't know if it feels like he's been gone longer than that... or less than that... or if it's about right.  In some ways it feels like it's been a long time since I've been with my dad.   I think about him all the time and I try to imagine what he'd say to me during the day.  Every month, on the 17th, for this next year, I'm going to write about my dad.

Dadism #1:  You have to work to kill a kid.  

This was actually a phrase he started to say to me shortly after I had James and then reiterated over and over again after I had Henry... and then Pete.

"Beth," my dad would say, "God wasn't dumb when he made babies.  See how fat yours are??  That's intentional.  That way they ROLL.  Stop hovering.  You give me a headache watching you hover so much.  You have to work to kill a kid.  He's okay.  Re---lax."

You know what?  Even though dad was being silly, he's right.  Kids are resilient.  They're meant to thrive... even if I don't stand over them and watch their every single move.

That being said, my father would've been the first one to point out if one of my kids wasn't "right."  Before we realized Henry was very smart dad would jokingly say, "I hope all the smiling that kid does, doesn't mean he's... you know... simple."

SO much of me, and what I find funny, is from my dad.  He had a very dry, witty sense of humor and I think that's what I miss the most.

I don't recall the joke my dad told me, but here I am laughing at something he said to me right before walking down the aisle at our church rehearsal.