My tribute to my dear husband this year for his 59th birthday (June 24), is to give him a shout out for his exceptional fathering skills and to thank him again for the huge impact he had/has on the lives of our four children.
My sweet husband is a kid in a man's body. Because of this fact, he was and is a great father/grandfather. Our kids were so fortunate that they grew up with a dad who loved to play with them, take them on adventures, spend time with them and just have a good time. It was a very rare exception for him not to attend every one of their tee-ball, soccer, soft-ball, baseball, football, basketball, cross country, track, tennis events or music recitals, church events or honor nights. If they were performing, he was in attendance. His support knew no bounds, even with his very demanding time schedule.
Our daughter Claire wrote this list of games the kids played with their dad a number of years ago and gave the list to him. The games bring back so many good memories of a dad who really loved his children and who loved to horse around with them. Oh, and don't forget about watching Pee Wees playhouse every Saturday morning (I personally hated that show) with their dad, going to the Snack Shack behind our house with a quarter for a treat and of course going on "adventures" almost every Saturday afternoon to the BYU campus to tour around the buildings, run at the track, spend a quarter at the candy jar candy counter and get their dose of indoctrination for the week. They also attended dozens of BYU athletic events over the years with their dad. Most Saturdays consisted of doing chores in the morning as a family and then dad taking off with the kids for an activity while mom had some much needed time to get other things done.
when we were kids. A sampling:
Guess The Person - one person would think: of anyone on the planet: dead or alive, real or
fake, and everyone else had an unlimited number of questions to figure out who they
were thinking of. Sort of a variation on 20 questions but without a limit.
Get a Quarter - if you were the first to see Bear Lake, or to count 100 cars on a train, or
see the Pacific Ocean, your reward was one shiny Washington
Barber Chair - stand in front of someone who is sitting on a chair with their legs bent in
the air. Place your bottom on their feet. Wait for them to kick and send you flying
through the air.
Direction Choice - everyone would pile in the car and each kid would get two or three
turns to decide at each intersection: go right, left, or straight. We woud up at some pretty
interesting places around town.
Music Appreciation - Sunday nights at our old house, we would pile around the big stereo
containing one of the first-ever CD players, and listen to a selection of my parents'
favorite music, from classical to Weird AI, Journey, Chicago and Stix to Phantom of the
Opera and Whitney Houston
Count the Chins - during Conference, count the number of double, triple, and quadruple
chins present in the choir. I still can't watch them without doing this.
What religion?- admittedly a horribly judgmental game. While driving on the freeway,
look at the cars next to us and decide if it was likely they were of our same religion or
not. Obviously some of the smokers and long-haired people were, but this didn't stop us
from guessing.
Kickball - play a game of kickball in the front yard (measuring approximately 15 by 40
feet) of the old house for hours on end
Ride the Bumper -jump on the back bumper of the Silver Bullet that my dad used to
drive to work, and ride on the back of the car as he drove up the driveway upon arriving
home. Sometimes he would even back up into the neighbor's driveway and drive up ours
a second time.
Story Time - at bedtime, we heard stories of made-up individuals who lived adventurous
lives. We also heard about all the mischievous behavior that my dad and his siblings
displayed in their youth, including bringing a dog into church in a little basket and having
it start barking during sac meeting, throwing a dummy and a couch off one of the tallest
buildings on campus, egging the neighbors' party, and various other acts that would get a
person arrested now.
State Honk- every time you pass into a new state and go by the big sign announcing
such, honk your car horn seven times in the same pattern. If I'm driving with a nonfamily
member and they don't do this, I always get a bit sad.
Nose Alphabet- plug your nose and attempt to say the entire alphabet without any of the
letters coming out all nasally sounding. M and N are almost impossible to get past.
Knock on the Door - have a little kid close their eyes and mouth. Say this while doing
each step: Knock on the door (forehead), peek in (open their eyes), turn the knob (nose),
walk in (mouth). A favorite of very small kids.
One Guess - think of a person, any person, dead or alive, real or fake. Everyone else has
exactly one guess to divine who you're thinking o£ It may sound like a horrible game, but
can actually provide lots of entertainment, especially when someone actually guesses the
person in just ONE GUESS!
