With Father’s Day approaching in the midst of the pandemic, we thought it would be fun to celebrate dads in a lighthearted way. As a dad of four kids, some of these are very true of me, so giving insight into the “dad mind” is my gift to you this Father’s Day.
Here are my 10 signs Dad is ready for COVID-19 to be over. Are you ready?
10. He hasn’t taken his Canucks jersey off since March.
As the Canucks look like they’re going to finally make the playoffs for the first time in a while, dad has become stuck waiting for the adapted playoffs to start. It’s been tricky for him to show his support for his favourite team while taking showers, but somehow he still does it!
9. He BBQs extra meat just to feel like he’s hosting a backyard BBQ with the neighbours.
Either that or he is strategically making a snack for himself for later? Hmm….
8. Re-runs of sports are a sad but nightly event.
Dad is so starved for sports that re-watching games from years ago (even though he knows the outcomes of the games) is all he has. My suggestion is to support him as he cheers for every goal or basket so he feels like it is actually a live event.
7. He has taken up golf even though he hates it.
This is about the only sport you can do while physically distancing. If he is not a golfer (like me), my suggestion is not to ask him about the score. Rather, focus on how he improves week to week. That being said, if he doesn’t improve, you should simply talk about how the weather was on the golf course.
6. He tried “5km a day for May” and it almost killed him.
There was a challenge for people to run or walk 5km every day for the month of May. All dads really like challenges, don’t they? Dads don’t just walk 5km a day, they go all the way and try running it… for non-runners that’s very difficult. My suggestion would be to not talk about it if he tried it and failed. Some things are better left unsaid.
5. His dad jokes are worse than usual.
Everybody knows that dads tell bad jokes, it comes with being a dad. Be easy on him, he doesn’t have a lot of material right now. My suggestion? Start pitching him ideas for new jokes everyday, but go the extra effort and set him up really well so he feels good about it.
4. He gets bored and whips out some 1990’s rap.
There’s just something about a good 1990’s rap that’s so hard to resist. So if this happens, cheer him on, beatbox or clap to his Vanilla Ice, Skee-lo, Beastie Boys, Coolio, LL Cool J, MC Hammer or DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. I’m embarrassed just typing these… it hits close to home. “So whatcha-whatcha-whatcha want?”
3. With his teenagers never leaving the house, he starts talking like them.
There are problems with him bringing back words like gnarly, weak-sauce, tubular, radical and boo-ya! It may be cool or sweet that those words still work, kinda… but when he resorts to Sick, flex, shipped, cap or bet… he may be worse off than first expected. My suggestion is to let him down easy by telling him that he shouldn’t try these words even though he’s been bored for 3 months.
2. Building Lego is a new hobby.
For a dad, I don’t think Lego ever leaves your blood stream. I’m not the only one, if you are a dad reading this you know what I’m talking about!
1. He is willing to talk about anything with anybody.
Maybe I’m weird, but when COVID-19 restrictions first hit I ended up talking to anyone and everyone I saw that wasn’t in my immediate family. Without sports to talk about with the buddies, there are some prime opportunities to engage dad in all sorts of conversations. Try anything and you’ll be surprised how much he talks about it…maybe even Jane Austen? He’s had a lot more time to expand his mind past sports, cars and BBQ’ing.
So give your dad a break, give him some love and get creative celebrating the poor guy. He may need you more than ever (especially if he’s a Maple Leafs fan… there is some added stress that comes from cheering for Toronto).
And if you’re a dad, how true are some of these of you?
Send your thoughts my way and we can form some solidarity together.
Wes