Thou Shalt Not Grill

Father’s Day has come and gone.

Too often dads are not given the recognition they so richly deserve. While most fathers work outside the home in a variety of occupations, an increasing number choose to either work at home or stay at home to care for their children. There are many who are very involved in raising their children.

What have you done recently to show your dad how much you appreciate him?

Those at-home dads do most, or all, the typical daily household chores, change diapers, go shopping, take the children to school and doctor appointments, cook meals, and much more. They spend their days giving baths, potty-training, taking care of cuts and scrapes, playing with their children…and the list goes on.

But fathers have a slightly different approach to child rearing than mothers do. They are sometimes more easy-going and not always worried about minor details: 

• Pizza for breakfast and the for lunch sound like fun? 
• Dads and their kids aren’t concerned about mismatched clothes. At least the kids are dressed! 
• Got a boo-boo? If the child can still move, some dads say, “You’re tough.  There’s no blood. Now get up and go play.” 
• Some dads do tea parties. Some like to wrestle on the floor.

As the children get older, they need their fathers in different ways. 

My sons—ages 32, 29 and 24—call their dad every now and then with questions relating to a car problem. Sometimes, it is just the comfort of talking to someone who may know what the problem is, especially while sitting on a highway waiting for a tow truck.

My husband had a medical scare recently and our three sons realized he won’t always be around to answer those questions. So they planned a surprise for him for Father’s Day. 

Instead of a card and dinner plans at a restaurant, it was a cookout at our son, Jim’s and a visit from our youngest son, Donald, who lives in Massachusetts.

We did all the preparations through Facebook—something my husband doesn’t read. The boys decided to have doggies and hamburger barbeque, salads, deviled eggs, beans, cheeses and a cake. Donald brought shrimp, lobster bisque and clam "chowda" from Massachusetts. 

Jim had to figure out where to hide Donald’s bright red car, plus make sure his two children didn’t “spill the beans” about Donald being there! And our oldest, Jason, was in charge of the most important menu item—beer.

The boys decided their dad was going to get a whole day of rest. He could kick up his feet and relax with a beer in hand. 

There would be no grilling of hot dogs by dad. I wondered how that feat would be pulled off, since he likes to help at the grill. The decision among them was to tie him to the chair if need be. 

A new commandment was in order for the day: “Thou shalt not grill.”