Happy Father's Day!

I have been going through this note for some time now and I have not had anything substantial to say. So allow me to just blabber on.

Many fathers are built like carabaos---hard working and mum to complain. Fathers are mainly the doers with little or no words to spare---definitely not the one to talk to when things get serious and---well. "fatherly". This is usually true for blue collar dads who, after a whole day’s work, are famished when they get home. However, it does not mean they love their family less (why toil for those you do not love, right?).

I try to veer away from this stereotype by breaking the barrier with my children. Small kids only have simple issues like pasalubong, toys, go to the bathroom, and man the controls of Modern Warfare4. When they become older, it gets more complicated and believe me, it’s hard to get started on the different topics that needs to be discussed for their guidance. I can’t just call them around a bonfire and start yapping about how to best go about life’s journey, can I? So, I try to emulate the people that would make up for the best dad combination.

1. Noah Levinstein (played by Eugene Levy in the movie American Pie)? Sex talk got into another level with this guy.

2. Cliff Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby in the Cosby Show). Life wisdom from an educated father. The ideal father for such a large family. Smooth as silk can get.

3. Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen in Home Improvement). He may be the cocky, accident-prone know-it-all with the most flippant of humor but he sure knows how to make amends in the most fun of ways. Funny to the extreme! Plus, he’s a car dude! MORE POWER!!-Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!

4. Charles Ingalls (played by Michael Landon in Little House on the Prairie). The conventional father figure: full of wisdom, just, equitable, loving, and caring.

It’s a struggle to be a father to your children. But I guess it’s in the struggle that makes a good father. So I trudge on in life and pray for God’s guidance to lead me to become the best father I can be.

Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there!