To the Underappreciated Dads
Happy Father's Day from Family Scripts
To the fathers who might not be getting a card on Father’s Day:
Our culture doesn’t know what to do with dads.
On holidays, it’s expected that moms get the day off to be spoiled on Mother’s Day, but Father’s Day means grilling with the family. 🤨
On TV, you’re portrayed as a dorky pushover at best, and an all-too-real example of all the abusive or absent dads in our culture at worst. Or maybe you’re just a beer-guzzling NFL drone who doesn’t care about his family.
Your family knows that you’re more than that. They know that you have loftier goals than that. Your family sees that you are striving to be a strong support for your family, a captain who can bravely guide his crew through heavy storms.
We know that you want to be the guy who toddlers cry for when they have boo-boos or who teens confide in when they need advice. You are fully capable of changing diapers, helping with homework, and even giving “the talk.”
You’re not an awkward, unaware dolt who calls his son “Jimbo,” but a man who knows his kids and loves to meet them where they are. You are a proficient parent who can love and shepherd his kids in a way that literally no one else can.
Your family might not know what you do when you’re working, and they might complain about all the things you’re missing out on. And you probably feel really bummed to miss it! While you’ve been helping to provide for your family, you’ve missed first laughs, first words, and countless memories and conversations. It’s okay to grieve that.
(If you work outside the home): You’re needed at work all day, and at home people still need you. You try hard to separate yourself from your work stress so you can be fully present and joyful for a family that brings stress of its own. Even though you might not get thanked for everything you do, the best part is you don’t make the sacrifices you make because you want to be thanked. You work hard because you love your family. Though they might not say anything, they see it. And they know it.
Pretty much every villain in every story has daddy issues, but you’re striving to prevent future villains 😉 You want your kids to be 30 years old and telling their friends how much their dad loved them in childhood. You went them to be 70 and telling legends to their grandkids of the epic adventures and meaningful talks they had with their dad. You’re doing a great job, Dad.
And if you’re not doing a great job (yet)? The story isn’t over. Your kids will remember their dad humbling himself and making a change.
Happy Father’s Day.
Warmly,
Hope and the Family Scripts team
P.S. Shout-out to my husband Peter, who is truly a great (albeit underappreciated) dad.