It starts 9 months before birth.  In the very formation of your life it is determined if you will someday get the opportunity to be a Father, and even better than that a Dad, and even better than that to be called Daddy.  It is a Y that determines the gender of a baby as it is still forming in the mother’s womb.  But the Y later turns a good name, Dad into a heart melting name Daddy.

We have all seen and or heard the saying that “Any man can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy,” and we all know that this is true.  The difference in the names just feels so much different even though they may refer to the same person.  We also hear the non complementary terms about dads; dead beat dad, absentee dads, estranged father, etc.  Then we hear people talk about single fathers, and stay at home dads, and the praise that goes along with those titles.  But what I want to talk about is what I was blessed to have, what my wife had, a Dad that’s there.

We live in a culture now that the majority of kids are growing up with only one parent or between parents.  Then we also have the families that are “in-tact” but not everyone is present.  A kid needs a dad that is there.  Dads need to be there for their kids, not just show up to things, but put up and shut up where our kids our are involved.

As I said above, and I have said before, I was very blessed to have a dad that was there for everything.  He was my soccer coach, he was my boss, my teacher, scout leader.  He was there for everything, he taught me how to work with my hands, how to respect people, how to work hard for what you want, and how to be a good dad.  These are all lessons that I could have learned from somewhere or someone else, but he knew it was his job and responsibility.

And I don’t understand how a man, and I will use the term loosely in this case, can beat, neglect, or just leave their kids.  The first time that my daughter said daddy, actually the first time I held her, I knew that I had something special.  You other dads can’t tell me that when one of your kids says, Daddy jump please, you don’t say how high and how many times.  Now I’m not saying its good to let the kids control things, but it’s just something about the “Daddy, …” along with a look that can make the hardest man melt.  When a child says “Dad..” it doesn’t carry the same weight.  It’s the Y that gets added to it, and makes the whole difference.

Happy Father’s Day to all the great Dads out there.  Enjoy the day and enjoy your kids.