No dad bashing today
Fathers these days get little respect. Why even the holiday to honor their place in family lives comes weeks after school has let out, meaning the little ones haven’t focused for days making “special” paper cards and presents. Sure some dads today might get a tie they’ll never wear, but Father’s Day just doesn’t merit the attention and applause of Mother’s Day.
On any given day, society is deluged with stories about absentee fathers, deadbeat dads, men who molest their children and on and on. And the latest Beltway trend is lamenting that if only fathers would marry the mothers of their children, no one would be poor and welfare would no longer be needed. Perhaps that’s a bit of stretch, but you get the point. It’s still politically OK to pick on fathers.
But not us and not today.
For every tale of a bad dad abandoning his kids, there are thousands more who coach Little League, sit through dance recitals, offer help with homework, patch up skinned knees or pull out a hankie and say, blow. For every father charged with child molestation, there are thousands more who tuck their children in at night with bedtime stories. For every father who deserts and belittles a child’s mother, there are thousands more who teach their children through showing respect. For every father who skips paying child support, there are thousands who hold down two jobs or start college funds.
The point is there are far, far more men who are great fathers than not, but their stories are unremarkable as news events. But their lives are truly remarkable.
Happy Father’s Day.