Growing up our dad is our hero, the apple of our eye. Can our perception change as we grow?
In a recent survey Babysits asked dads all around the world how they viewed themselves vs how society viewed them, the results are astounding. Even in today’s modern society dads feel they are viewed unfairly by society and this needs to change. Therefore we decided to ask those with experience (sons & daughters) to tell us about an experience they remember with their father, and to our delight, there were quite a few amazing answers proving how great dads are.
Sarah, 21 years old
When I was a child, I often sucked my thumb and my dentist wanted me to stop because it could distort my teeth. My parents tried to convince me, but nothing helped, I didn’t want to stop! One day my father, who was then a smoker, offered me a deal. He would quit smoking if I quit thumb sucking. I really enjoyed the challenge that we took on together and so we both achieved our goal a few weeks later. This is probably one of my best memories of my father because we have both helped each other, today we still laugh about it.
Sharon, 29 years old
My father taught me to travel and discover new places, to be curious and to try new things. We traveled through Europe together in our caravan! Because of this experience with my father I have become a person who wants to travel a lot and is extremely curious to discover new places.
Tom, 31 years old
My father and I have restored a boat together for 11 years. This was our father-son time; in this time we have cursed, crafted, learned and laughed a lot together! When I think back to this, this is my favorite memory I have about my father.
Kate, 22 years old
The most precious memories I have with my father are all our vacations together, especially our travels to Spain. Because my father worked very often and we only saw each other every weekend, I enjoyed being with him for a whole week without dealing with his customers. We just went to the beach together, read a lot of books and ate a lot of delicious food. Through him, I have discovered my love for cooking and eating!
Zach, 18 years old
As a child, I was in the hospital a lot. It didn’t help that I was a fussy eater and hated hospital food. I always remember that after work, my father would come to visit with my favorite meal, he would always take time to cook a delicious meal that he knew I loved. I counted the minutes until he came. All other patients and nurses were extremely jealous!
Joseph, 26 years old
My favorite moments with my father were the times that we practiced football together for my football matches. I also loved when he attended my matches. He was always very proud of how far I had come.
Rachel, 27 years old
The best thing I can remember with my father is the time we went on holiday in Renesse. Every year, during the summer holidays, we went to Renesse with the whole family. We had a mobile home there and we stayed there for at least a month. Because Renesse is located by the sea, we were often found on the beach. Me and my father are real water rats. Even when the weather was bad and it stormed, we went into the sea together. We could entertain ourselves for hours in the “violent” waves and the higher the waves the better!
Thomas, 23 years old
When I think back to my dearest memories with my father, so many come to mind, but one memory has always stayed with me. I believe I was 11 or maybe 12 when he took me on a camping trip. We have camped before, but always with my sister and mother, so this time was special because it was just the two of us. It was so much fun. He taught me to fish, make a fire and many things about nature. It was the best camping trip ever for me and perhaps my best moment with my father.
Elaine, 26 years old
I was eleven years old when we went to the amusement park together. I was afraid of roller coasters, but I still wanted to try it as I saw the excitement on everyone’s faces, everyone really enjoyed it – so my father hugged me all the time while we were on the roller coaster. I felt protected and very happy! We had such a great time together!
Christine, 33 years old
I grew up in America and my best memories together with my father are sports-related. I always liked to go with him to baseball games of the Colorado Rockies. We always did this together, without my mother. We ate hot dogs, drank beer and tried to make each other laugh. We also often sailed together. He taught me how to steer the boat. Once it even went wrong. We sailed together on a lake and the boat tilted. Then we had to swim to the coast. It was scary, but I remember well that he stayed very calm and protected me. He was always my “safe place” and he enjoyed seeing me grow up.
It is time that we give dads the credit they deserve, children around the world grow to be amazing adults every day with fond memories of both their mom and dad. Societies expectation needs to change as the reality is quite different. This article was written in collaboration with Babysits, the UK babysitting community.
