3 Ginger Snaps

The past 6 months have included some of the most intense parenting experiences I’ve had in my almost 10 years on the job. I would like to think that I might have even learned a few things about what it means to be a father during my family’s recent wanderings . There were some incredible highs – such as the twilight picnic beside the Eiffel Tower- and there were some deep lows – such as many of the times that I sat down with the kids to do schoolwork… Not some of my finest hours. And while I do not normally go in for recognizing or celebrating these constructed holidays, I am feeling particularly reflective this Father’s Day. I think that the reason I am in this frame of mind this evening is because this weekend I had the chance to talk about, reflect on, and think through my most recent paternal Balance sheet with a guy who has almost 40 years worth of experience in the field: my dad.

Check us out eh? We have matching foreheads. 

My parents agreed to allow us to store One of our vehicles on their property up at the family cottage. The car is 10 years old and not in the greatest shape however it still gets us from A to B… Or at least it did when we left. Turns out that fuel stabilizer and a well secured tarp aren’t much when they are stacked up against the realities of exposure to the elements during a Canadian winter. When I arrived at the cottage my dad had a battery charged and ready to go for me so that I could boost the car out of its winter slumber. When that didn’t work he came with me to figure out how we could jump start the engine of a car that had been parked without foresight nose into a somewhat inaccessible parking spot. And when that didn’t work he was there with his CAA membership card (thanks mom) because again, in a moment that lacked foresight, I had left mine behind. This is all characteristic behaviour of my father: never stop problem-solving, never give up.

And when the car did finally make it out of the muddy mucky parking spot, he drove with me into the nearest town so that I could drop the car off at Canadian tire because there were apparently power steering problems and one of the breaks had seized. But that is another story. 

In a moment of unbeknownst foreshadowing my dad had told me a joke just the night before that was a favourite joke of his father’s. It goes something like this: there was a time when many Europeans decided to move to Canada because they heard that the streets here were paved with gold. When they got to Canada they quickly learned that not only were the streets not paved with gold – they were not paved at all. So they paved them.

Stuck in the ditch… Paved roads… On Father’s Day… I think there might be A metaphor here.

As a father it is hard to know which roads to pave, which roads to leave bumpy, and when the best decision is in fact to tell your kid: I think the path might be somewhere over there and here are a few pitfalls that I think you should Watch out for along the way. Moreover, as the father of three ever increasingly independent daugjters, I am learning just how straining it is when you point your kid in the direction of the smooth paved road and then they turn around, crash through the forest and charge over the cliff. So then you figure out how to get a rope down to the bottom of the gorge… Or in my dad’s case engineer a A multi stage telescopic steam powered indestructible ladder you can lower down. 

Never stop problem-solving, never give up.

I think that the best thing I am learning from my dad these days is that the role of father has plenty of room for adaptation and evolution. You learn how to roast the perfect beet and season and gently toast the ultimate croutons for your Iron Man salad. You consult on topics ranging from career developments to carriage bolts. You help get cars out of the ditch. And you nab big pieces of plywood from the trash so that you can make signs like this when your Son and his family come home.

Love you, Dad.