A few ‘Dadisms’

When we look at our children, we hope to see a little of ourselves reflected back at us. I often wonder if my own father sees himself in me. I mostly take after my mother, I think, but I’m always catching some of my Dad’s mannerisms popping up in my thinking and my actions.

We all try to pass things down to our kids. I think I did pretty OK in preparing my boys for adulthood (still working on the girl…), so I got to thinking about the little life lessons my Dad either intentionally or just from observation taught me. Here are just a few…

• You can’t make everyone happy, but you can try

• A lock will only stop a lazy criminal

• Check your oil

• Don’t forget to change the filter in the air conditioner

• On money… don’t go crazy but don’t go hungry

• There’s no reason to get in a hurry

• Always take time to talk to people

• Don’t waste time and energy being mad

• It’s not your driving you’ve got to worry about, it’s everyone else’s driving (bonus: always use your blinker)

• If there’s a problem, take care of it as best you can

• Treat everyone like they are your friend

• Those bills can wait… for a while

• You can fix almost anything with athletic tape

• You’re not too good to get your hands dirty

• Accept people for who they are

• Never take the third strike… swinging and missing is always better than getting called out

• Just do the best you can every chance you get

• Everything is going to be OK… eventually I think I’ve passed most of these on. Feel free to do with this knowledge what you like.

Happy Father’s Day!