Happy Father's Day

First of all, I must say that I am so happy to have Tad as my partner and as the father of my children.  One of the things that first attracted me to him when we first met, was the way he speaks to children like they are PEOPLE! (which they are, of course) As a father he is playful, gentle, sensitive, loving, and protective.  He respects and loves his children.  And he shows me that he loves me in front of them...which I hear is a great gift for children to have...

Second of all...I am so so lucky to have Joel Kriofske as my dad.  He is hilarious, tender, sensitive, fun and oh so caring to my sister and me.  These are my top five dad memories.

1. My dad has an amazing singing voice. When I was a kid (and even still today) when he would sing to me, I would just feel like I was nestled into a protective, warm and magical place, just looking at his kind face and letting the sound of his voice wash over me
2. In our house growing up, we had a fireplace. When the weather grew cold, my dad took my sister and I into the woods on nightly expeditions to collect firewood.  He'd pull our battered red coaster wagon and we'd run along beside him, pretending that we lived in forest while he found timber and kindling.
3. My dad made a point to take my sister and me individually out for a treat...just dad and daughter. I remember sitting opposite him at The Chocolate Factory, eating a scoop of blue moon and a scoop of mint, and talking
4. In the summertime, my dad, at the request and squeals of my sister Beth and me, would throw us into the lake or the ocean or the pool or wherever it is we happened to be swimming.  I remember the way it felt to be held in his arms, wet from the water as he hoisted me high.
5. When I was a teenager, prone to extreme embarrassment by my parents, my dad would make it better by going to his own extremes.  My sister and I would be arguing about one thing or another, or arguing with one of our parents out in public and my dad would yell, loudly in a mock angry voice, "Be quiet now or I'll make a scene!!!"  This would always dissolve the embarrassment we may have had, and send us into gales of laughter and pride that we had a dad such as ours.

Happy father's day to all you dads out there and to all you moms who play both roles!!!