I wanted to share a couple things specifically about my dad and why we're so glad he was born on this day then I'll throw in a great book recommendation, a giveaway (in another post), and a few thoughts about storytelling.
Great things about my dad:
1. He has been known to take a nice nap, or, as was the case here, pretend to take a
nap so we could get a cute Jacob-Grandpa shot.
2. He can make babies fall asleep with his magical thumb. (It really is amazing, this baby is currently still asleep almost 3 years later. Well, I guess it is just nap time right now...moving on.)
3. He wears fancy ties.
(My little sister will tell you this is dripping with sarcasm...and I will tell you that I had to go through a lot of pictures to find one where my eyes were open and my dad's eyes were open! Like father, like daughter!)
5. He came to both of my graduations at BYU and, more importantly, took a great interest in the things I was attempting to study for all of my 7 years in Provo. Brevity has never been my strong point and I know he listened to lots of monologues about problems in society, how to conduct hymns, nutrition in Mexico, statistical tests in SPSS, and endless dating woes and finally successes when Jeff came along!
6. He is not a sore loser and enjoys the game, whether it be bowling, coaching the Optimist league basketball teams he has coached over the years, or the game of life.
It's been a long year and a bit for my parents since Dad learned he would need to find another job. I have really admired my dad's faith and courage despite this painfully difficult trial. Today I celebrate Dad by sharing with my readers a favorite book that I remember him reading (and reading and reading and reading) to me as a child, and a method for bedtime stories that I have yet to replicate successfully.
When I was probably in first or second grade we ordered Polly Cameron's "I Can't" Said the Ant from a class book order. I recall being amazed when my dad told me he remembered this book from when he was a little boy. (What, you read books? What, you were a little boy?) He would read this with me and do different voices for all the kitchen tools, food and utensils as they encourage the tiny ant to work with the spiders and successfully return the teapot to the counter after she has a nasty spill. "Teapot fell!" said the Dinner Bell. The ant doubts that it can complete the task at hand. "But you must!" said the Crust. "Please try," said the Pie. It is a great book for learning words that rhyme, for teaching about teamwork and cooperation, and for trying your hand (voice!) at doing voices for an array of characters.
When we were kids my mom taught ESL classes in the evenings some nights, had Relief Society events other nights, and so sometimes the exciting task of putting three girls in bed fell to my dad. He made up a very fun tradition with a little brown rabbit he named Storytelling Bunny (pronounced Storingtelling Bunny for a while, I think by yours truly or maybe Little Sister). Storytelling Bunny would recount the events of his day, always ending with a nice moral. He told of how he shouldn't have skipped school to play baseball (that night we learned that Dad could click his tongue loud enough to sound like a bat hitting a fast-pitched baseball), or how he didn't need to be afraid of monsters and other various things. I don't remember all the stories very well, but I do recall very fondly the time I spent perched on the top bunk looking down as my dad used the whole room as a stage, or sitting on the floor while he used gallon ice cream buckets as props.
I am beginning to think it might just be a Super Dad thing to be able to create such fun story lines for kids. My husband is much better at this than I am, and hearing him tell stories with Jacob & Rebecca about Fire Truck the red/blue/green/purple/changes often Beaver during our Beaver Tales time before bed brings back great memories from when my Dad had quite the captive audience.
Thanks for indulging me today while I took some time to write about my dad! Happy reading! And...
Happy Birthday, Dad!
and I can't forget...
Happy Half-Birthday, Mom!
2 comments:
Thanks for the great memories Stace, I love you so much.
Dad
He must have been a great Dad, look at his daughter.
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