[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hello friends! The summer months roll onward and this Sunday is Father’s Day. We’re going to give you a list of fun activities for the day, but first, a story. I wear lots of hats – blog editor, professor, conductor – but the one I am most proud of is father. I remember being scared during my wife’s pregnancy; my mind filled with all kinds of scenarios – parenting tests that I would obviously fail. What if I fed the baby too much? What if I couldn’t calm the baby down? What if I DROPPED the baby? That last one haunted me. For a while, as silly as this sounds, it kept me up at night.
And then, our first son came into the world. Instant love for this tiny human filled me from bottom to top. After examining him, the doctor picked him up from the scale and headed my way – intent on placing him in my arms. I felt petrified. Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious…
I AM GOING TO DROP THAT KID.
That instant love had actually intensified the fear.
The doctor wasn’t stopping; he continued his approach with a wide smile on his face. Couldn’t he tell I was absolutely panicked? Why, oh why, wasn’t he stopping? It seemed as if this powerful love I was feeling brought high-def focus to the image of dropping that swaddled bundle on the faux-wood floor of the delivery room. I could feel myself shaking.
This was it. He was going to make the hand-off, and I was going to immediately drop my son. My brain was screaming, “GIVE HIM BACK TO HIS MOTHER! SHE’S ON A BED! SHE WON’T DROP HIM!”
I managed a little smirk, trying so hard to mask my terror. I imagined a newspaper floating through the air (like in cheesy movies) with this headline: LOCAL FATHER DROPS BRAND NEW SON IN FRONT OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS.
But…that didn’t happen. In one of the most magical moments of my life, the instant my son was in my arms, a switch flipped in my brain – or maybe it was my heart. I distinctly recall hearing my own voice say these words in my head:
“I will never let anything happen to this child.”
The fear was no longer front and center, instantly replaced with a protective instinct ten times as powerful – and that’s when I truly felt like a dad.
Our first son is 13 and ready to start high school this fall. I know I can’t be with him at all times – even though that protective instinct tells me I need to be. I love seeing him laugh with his friends and play trombone in the school band. I love watching him at track meets and hear him still goof around with his 10 year old brother (even though he’s sometimes “too cool” for that). I have found my balance of letting him find his own failure and success. He learns from both.
Sometimes, I look at this nearly six-feet-tall young adult and, in a flash, I am back in that delivery room, holding him for the first time, instantly confident in my new role. For the first two weeks of his life, I couldn’t look into his eyes without weeping tears of complete joy. I wrote him a lullaby, which I would sing to him when he woke up in the middle of those first nights back home. My wife has always insisted I wrote it to stem my own blissful crying. I’ve never told her this – but she was right.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]
Father’s Day Activities and Ideas
Kindermusik Educator Cathy Portele provides a list of fun-filled Father’s Day ideas. Check our her blog post here.
Reader’s Digest gives us a great collection of activities for just about every type of dad – Amusement Park Dad, Golf Dad, Camping Dad – the list goes on!
The Memory Box
This is one of the most special crafts I’ve ever seen. I have done this for my mother and my wife – and when it was done for me, I got that big lump in my throat when you have “all the feels.” It’s simple and highly personal.
You’ll need:
1. A small, wooden box – like this one, found at Michaels:
2. A sheet of paper
On the sheet of paper, write (or print out using a computer) a list of special memories or thoughts…”Remember I love you, Dad!…”Remember that day at the park with the puppies”…”Remember our trip to the zoo when the giraffe ate your hat!”…anything that has meaning for Dad.
Cut the memories into individual slips, roll them around a pencil to curl them up, and place them in the box.
You can paint the box if you like – maybe even label it “Memory Box.” As time passes, you can add new memories. Sometimes if I’ve had a stressful day, I open up my Memory Box – instant smiles!
The Father’s Day Neck Tie
The classic gift in customizable paper form! The folks over at Kid’s Craft Room provide instructions to create a special, one-of-a-kind tie for Dad. Check it out here.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]To all those dad’s out there – Happy Father’s Day from all of us at Kindermusik! We hope to see you and your kids at one of our classes soon. Enjoy your day![/vc_column_text][class_finder_form css=”.vc_custom_1466044991172{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
