Dad Magazine: September 2015 Edition

by Jaya Saxena and Matt Lubchansky · September 16, 2015

DADMAG26

[Image via Flickr]

Jaya Saxena is a New Yorker who writes for lots of things. The Toast, Uncommon Courtesy, and New Amsterdam Mystery Company are some of them. Follow her on Twitter @jayasax. Matt Lubchansky makes comics and occasionally leaves his apartment in New York. His work includes Please Listen to Me and New Amsterdam Mystery Company. He’s on Twitter, and doesn’t expect you to get his name right.


145 Comments

    3. fromthelandwithlove +6

      In my family it’s a rite of passage; you become a parent, you become obsessed with poop.

    1. sparkwoodand21 +11

      yep, I literally said that one morning last weekend when the temps got down to the low fifties! I’m also a fan of saying it’s “refreshingly cool”

    2. Mrs_Peel +20

      The interesting thing about Dadhood is that it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with age, gender, or actual child-having.

  4. ppyajunebug +95

    You guys, my Dad reached his Peak this month when my sister went home for the long Labor Day weekend and I missed it.

    Apparently within the space of one dinner, he asked her what the words “clit” and “milf” meant and revealed that anytime someone has been saying “bat” for the last 27 years he thought they were saying “vat”.

    dad

    2. catoclock +63

      omg DADS.

      My dad, a lifelong government employee, once apparently googled “milf” on his work computer because he wanted to find out what it meant. He was very confused when he got an error message warning him about explicit search terms.

    4. sheistolerable +31

      Wait, bat? Like . . . the normal word bat? Or is this some sex term I am too unhip to know. Oh no, AM I A DAD?

      1. ppyajunebug +33

        Yes, like the normal word bat. My only explanation is that sometimes in Spanish (his native language), the “v” sound is pronounced like a “b” sound. But that’s probably only 50% of it. The other 50% is just him being a dad.

    5. Mrs_Peel +50

      My grandfather once asked me what a “booty call” was (after seeing an ad for the film of the same name), and I steadfastly pretended not to know.

      1. LadyPoopjokes +63

        One Christmas morning, while in the thick of present-opening, my mother uttered the following: “Is this what they call a booty call?”

    6. Smug_the_Dragon +26

      Had to tell the mother-out-law what dogging was the other week. The rest of the group all sat around and pretended they had never heard the word until I explained it. Then they all went “oh, yeah, I knew that”

      The rotten bastards.

      1. bookwormV +9

        I think I had to explain to my extended family what rimming was last Christmas. I seem to have blocked most of it from my memory.

        1. Smug_the_Dragon +10

          It’s a what us English call walking specific large dog breeds. Like Labs and rotties.

          “Oh, I’m just going out dogging, toodle-pips”, I might say, as I put the lead on the excitable labs. Englishly.

    7. claredelune +31

      My dad found out only last month (when we told him) that the word “booty” is not, in fact, just a cute way of saying the word “body”…

    8. Frumiosa +50

      Never play Cards Against Humanity with your parents, my friends. Long story short: I had to be the one to tell my dad what a queef is.

      1. Megan +19

        There needs to be some kind of service for this! Yes, hello Oldsplainer? I need you to explain the phrase “trap queen” to my mom.

        1. LezzyBeaverman +6

          I….don’t know what that means. Does that mean I officially get to be An Old? Is there a hat?

          3. Alli525 +7

            My understanding is that it’s the main girlfriend of a drug dealer, who often helps him make/assemble the drugs? Like if you help your bae cook meth, you might be a trap queen. Maybe.

    9. isabelcooper +26

      So I’m sitting in the kitchen on vacation a few years back, talking to my mom and eating a sandwich. And she asks if she can ask me about something she heard on NPR. I figure it’s going to be about Harry Potter or LARPing or something, so I say sure.

      “What’s a ‘safeword’?”

      …

    1. osutein +21

      I REALLY NEED THIS QUIZ TO BE REAL BECAUSE I REALLY NEED TO TAKE IT BECAUSE I REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF FLEECE I AM.

      Perhaps not coincidentally, I am a father.

      1. theskyrbeast +10

        I am not a father, but I AM a big proponent of The Fleece. (Maybe I just want a semi-objective backing for my preference for three-quarter pullover anorak fleeces.)

        1. keristars +13

          My little brother introduced me to fleeces last year when I was visiting him and it was unexpectedly rainy + chilly (sudden Florida showers in the late autumn!) but we had taken his car to the park, not mine. He had 2 in his back seat (kind of unwashed, tbh, but i wasn’t being choosy), and dang it was warm AND dry but not overly muggy/wet-towel like my sweatshirt in a similar light-drizzle situation. He was a little bit smug about how awesome his fleece was, and I seriously considered stealing it.

          He’s going to be a pretty good Dad in a few years, I think.

  6. deleted6707794 +51

    Dads! I need them to help me decide where to plant elephant ears. Do I need to wear dad jeans when I plant them? Do they need puns as fertilizer?

    1. embryoconcepts +42

      1) in the shade
      2) yes
      3) yes + must be gazed at while drinking coffee and rubbing belly for maximum growth

    2. GruntledDave +17

      Elephant ears should be planted nowhere near a house, as they are highly invasive and will worm their way into the foundation slab. No lie. Ask me how I learned the hard way :/

  8. winterbymorning +230

    My Child Sneakily Picked Up The Cheque For Dinner While I Was in the Bathroom: One Dad’s Tragic True Story.

    1. Mrs_Peel +67

      Fighting for the check is something of a blood sport in my family. (My late great-grandma was a master; one time, she won by somehow paying the waitress on the way in ).

      1. winterbymorning +59

        We don’t fight over it because my father very placidly refuses to fight. The last time I said, “Maybe I could pay for lunch this time” he looked at me like I’d said “Maybe after the plates are cleared, we can all get up on the table and dance a merry hornpipe” and then pretended I hadn’t spoken at all. I only know he heard me because I saw his mustache quiver in horror. I am going to keep your great-grandmother in mind for next time – hopefully her legacy will inspire me to step up my cheque-stealing game.

        1. Mrs_Peel +16

          My aunt also nearly maimed a waitress recently (while grabbing for the check), but that was by accident and she felt bad.

      2. RationalHatter +18

        I have done this–I gave the waitress my credit card as she was taking us to our table, and managed to do it without my dad noticing. The check grabbing escalation has gotten to the point where I actually try to give my credit card information when I call to make the reservation now. (This doesn’t always work, though).

    2. britta_unfiltered +49

      Oh hey my dad commented on that one! “When you’re out to eat with your adult children, especially on Father’s Day, be sure to either a) NEVER leave the table, or b) PRETEND to use the bathroom while really settling the bill 20 minutes before you expect to leave. Hope this helps!”

      1. Mrs_Peel +13

        Wow, even on Father’s Day! That’s hardcore.

        My dad will let me take him out occasionally (like, to thank him if he’s helped me with a home improvement project, etc.), but usually he insists on paying for me and my siblings.

        1. britta_unfiltered +14

          Every year there’s an escalation in his approach to keeping us from paying; at this point, I’m not sure if it’s still about being the one who pays, or about outsmarting us? My sisters and I are in our late 20s/early 30s and to this day have never paid for anything in his presence, even if we’ve invited him.

        2. betsymore +14

          My inlaws drove to Boston from Florida, stayed for a week to help us move, bought us endless supplies, helped clean out our disgusting former apartment in 90-degree heat, did crazy-making tasks like putting together an Ikea bed and a complicated crib with missing hardware while we were at work, and at the end of that week, still would not let us buy them dinner. I still feel guilty!

    3. Laura +51

      It’s taken me 42 years, 2 marriages, graduate school, and a tenured teaching position, but my dad now lets me pick up the check.

      My mom, OTOH, takes me aside before we leave the house and announces that She Feels Like She Should Pay For Dinner Tonight, using a seriousness and finality usually reserved for the reading of Supreme Court decisions. (“It is so ordered.”)

      1. Mrs_Peel +11

        When I’m with my extended family (aunts, uncles, etc.), they never let me me pay for anything because I guess they think I’m not old enough? (I’m a 35-year-old attorney and homeowner who’s been working full-time for 10+ years now…)

      2. Ethylbenzene +18

        I’m 37 and my dad still occasionally gives me a $20 “for tolls” when I leave from visiting them. He and my mom are also fond of telling me where the nearest gas stations are, even though they’ve lived in the same house since I was born and our town hasn’t changed all that much. The Sheetz is still where it was in 1995, guys.

      1. Canary +3

        My parents make 4 or 5 times what I do in a year. My adult dignity isn’t worth as much as a free meal, and he’d be insulted if I even offered, so…

    5. Unreadaethel +9

      My uncle did that once, when we were all together (seriously, my dad’s entire side of the family; it was the first time we’d all been in one room in years) to finish clearing out grandma’s stuff. Grandpa got a private dining room for the whole group, it was super awesome, Uncle Dave sneakily went up and paid the check, it was hilarious. Somebody said they thought he might already have taken care of it, and Grandpa’s response was an aggrieved, “oh, he better not.” Amazing.

      1. Hannah Richards +2

        UNCLES though!
        Just last week, my mom’s cousin and his family were visiting, and naturally we went to the nicest restaurant in town. My mom passed a message to me via whispering from person to person from the other end of the (rather long) table that I was to know that she and my gramma, her mom, were going to cover the check for themselves, my sister and her boyfriend (both 30) and myself, which confused me that she should make this such a secret, except that a few minutes later it was brought to light that her cousin and his wife planned on paying. What followed were five adult people trying in the most sweet, polite way possible, to Insist They Should Pay; Really, We/You Visit So Rarely, It’s So Good To See You and You’re So Kind, but Really This Is Our Treat. This argument recurred no fewer than three times, including when the waitress brought the check and they actually almost tore it trying to grab at it.

        My Uncle, for his part, attempted to resolve the situation by sidling over to my mom’s cousin’s wife, whispering to her that It Was So Kind, But Really, He Should Pay For Himself; He Really Didn’t Expect Them To Pay For Him Since This Was For The Kids (my adult sister and myself, apparently), and actually tried to slip a couple $20s into her purse. Really. Not noticing, she politely but firmly Insisted, and, acting casual and pretending to acquiesce, he slyly tried it AGAIN! I just sat there, watching (probably with my mouth hanging open) watching this grown man trying to reverse pick-pocket a woman he’d just met, because KINDNESS. He noticed me watching, and stopped, but like…
        UNCLES though.

    6. chiaroscuromom +44

      Toasts, I totally let my dad pay at restaurants, give me “toll money,” sharpen my knives, change the batteries in my smoke detectors, and whatever other non-intrusive things he thinks he needs to do to show that he loves me. I do not let him watch the GOP debates on my TV, tell racist jokes, or listen to wackadoodle talk radio when my kids are in his truck. I’m 43 and able to take care of these things myself, but he’s 77 and maybe won’t be here 5 years from now. This is totally easier to do at 43 than at 23, BTW.

      1. rebeccacsjanzen +3

        oh yeah I do too. The last time I went home he didn’t give me gas money. Or money to fly to a family funeral. I was simultaneously happy and sad. (I have a job now, there is no need). But it’s still a nice thing.

    7. dakimel +9

      We gave Dad a Very Stern Look and assured him that we had Plenty Of Cash when we took him/Mom to their 50th Anniversary Dinner the other night (at a cash-or-check-only restaurant.)

      (Side note: expected them to make a bit of a fuss about Local Residents Married 50 Years, turns out we were one of 3 parties in the small place – town population under 1000 – having Golden Anniversary meals.)

      Anyway, he gave in, thanks to our clever strategy of seating him at the most inaccessible spot so the waitress could be stopped as soon as the check arrived.

      I don’t expect we’ll be able to do that again.

      1. kmfca +17

        I always know that winter is properly arrived when my dad starts saying “It was/is/has been butt-ass cold” any time he describes the weather.

    1. Lady_Honoria +23

      This is actually a thing I have said about tindr and now I’m having an identity crisis.

      Also, there is a liquor store here called ‘liquor first’ and it is just a gift which keeps on giving, lemme tell you.

  11. 30Litresof +12

    I precipitated an argument between my parents yesterday when my dad asked where I’d booked for dinner when they come to visit me. I told him I’d booked the fancy restaurant mum had requested. “I don’t think we can run to that book somewhere else Hannah in my office recommends xxxx place.” Mum unhappy. I’ve been fielding texts from both to resolve the situation.

    1. austinmcarter +15

      my dad used to be a serious mulch fan, but a few years ago he switched to pebbles & mega weed killer, and now whenever we see people mulching, he just chuckles condescendingly. “I do NOT miss that, no ma’am. Mulch is a young man’s game. Damn fools.”

  13. anninyn +147

    I bring you news that my dad friended someone (that he hadn’t spoken to in 30+ years) on facebook just to tell them I was a writer.

  14. tragicallyludicrous +15

    I figure this is a good place to ask this: my Dad is laid up after foot surgery, with a cast that means he can’t go far and doctor instructions that he shouldn’t. He’s normally a pretty active guy so this isn’t his favorite thing. Does anyone have suggestions for articles or things I should send him to read?

    1. Ethylbenzene +10

      I dunno, what kind of Dad is he? My dad is super into sudoku and books about the Pittsburgh Steelers, if that helps.

      1. tragicallyludicrous +11

        He’s not always the most typical Dad, but he can be in places. His interests are weather, 1980s punk and new wave, jam bands, sports of all kinds (particularly Syracuse), the dog, and television. I’d really like some good Internet/longreads sort of things, so I can drop him an email and make it seem a little more organic rather than “hey you’re injured I’m taking pity on you.”

        1. Ethylbenzene +3

          Hmm. I know there’s a book or two out there about Ernie Davis. I’m pretty bad at internet long reads though, because my attention span is so terrible 😀

        3. Beakses +5

          There’s a blog by a meteorologist in the pacific northwest that I used to read when I lived up there: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/

          The posts used to be a mix of super geeky weather analysis and griping about how Seattle teaches math in the public schools- looks like the math posts are probably less frequent, but plenty of geeky weather fun.

        4. gefthetalkingmongoose +7

          …1980s punk and new wave…

          If physical media is OK, send him a copy of Legs McNeil’s “Please Kill Me”. It’s an excellent oral history of early new-wave / punk, from those who survived. http://www.amazon.com/Please-Kill-Me-Uncensored-H… Oh, he can get it on his Kindle! My dad loooooves his Kindle.

    2. Battle_Swine +19

      My dad enjoys Dave Barry and those Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader–type books, which fill him with an endless array of fun facts (“A baby octopus is the size of a flea!”) to proclaim to all audiences. This… is probably not useful for your dad, though.

      1. urspostrophe +38

        OMG, this just reminded me of a time when I was a teenager and very sad and feelings-hurt about something, and my dad gave me a hug and loaned me his anthology of Dave Barry to comfort me.

        2. walrathem +5

          Dave Barry’s Guide to Guys is the best balm for a heart broken by a boy. It’s just funny anyway but especially useful then.

  15. ksek +69

    Last week I had a half-hour call with my dad, at the end of which we discovered that the reason “every time he tries to upload this picture to Facebook, it resizes to just an inch tall” was because he thought the preview image was the final image, and never actually tried clicking “post” (which posts the full-size image, natch).

    The half hour call wasn’t that bad. But he’d apparently been trying to figure out what was going wrong for SIX HOURS prior to calling me.

    2. pretty_monster +18

      my cousin got her dad onto FB recently. in response to a pic that i was tagged in, but which was posted on the event page instead of my wall, he said, “Cousin got me on FB but i’m still confused. just wanted to say hello pretty_monster”. facebook daaaaaaads <3

      1. Lady_Honoria +15

        Other people’s relations greeting them in random places on fb and saying things like ‘say hello to your little brother for me’ is just about my favourite thing.

  16. LacaunaKale +50

    Duh. In order to meet the ladies, you put on your best golf shirt (the one from that club that Vijay Singh belongs to) and head down to karaoke night at RJ Gators.

    Or if you are my married and not looking Dad,simply go on trip with only your daughter. All the nice women in the group will presume that you are a tragic widower (still speaking of his wife in the present tense, so sad) and try to set you up with their friend who lives in an adjoining retirement village.

    1. Ethylbenzene +4

      You know, I don’t know if my dad owns any golf shirts anymore that don’t have a Steelers or Penguins logo on them.

    1. jhsaxena +15

      Omg pleaaase my dad almost got scammed out of his apartment with his last serious girlfriend. He is too nice and trusting and he needs someone who will not take advantage of that.

      2. LezzyBeaverman +13

        Can we find friends for Moms too? My Mom needs friends. Currently her friends are…me and my sister. It’s not great, Bob. I’ve heard some things, and some stuff.

  18. EnchiladaTaco +83

    My dad called me before 8 am on Saturday to tell me that “the heat’s broken, and it’s a crisp, fresh day! Really gets the blood pumping! Get up! Get up, and go outside! I just got back from the dog park, and I even wore a jacket! Don’t let it go to waste!”

    Reader, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Sorry, dad.

    1. mbculver +17

      I’d wager that every dad in the world has some variation on “Hey, time to get up, sleepyhead! Half the day’s gone already!”

    2. Megan +16

      Oh god, my dad is a real proponent of being up to watch the sun rise (with a cup of black instant coffee, a newspaper, and a too-short dad robe, naturally).

      1. Lady_Honoria +8

        Until the second half of that paragraph I was basically imagining your dad as Channing Tatum at the start of MMXXL

  19. wallpaperori +11

    For my personal Peak Dad moment, in a couple weeks my dad and I are going to see Patti Smith talk about her next book.

  20. AliceIsHopeless +77

    My dad is forever trying to give me meat, wine and money. These are not bad things, however: I am largely a herbivore, I live alone and therefore very very rarely finish a bottle of wine before it goes bad, and I’m TRYING to be an adult and look after myself.
    He has started hiding these things in my bag when I go home, or sneaking them into my flat when he visits me, then denying all knowledge of where they came from but “don’t tell your mother!”

    Recently a surprise bottle of wine rolled out of my bag in a lecture, and I found a steak and £20 in my fridge.

    1. Lady_Honoria +17

      My grandma used to buy bottled and canned things so she could open them before we got there, decant a small amount, and then say ‘does anyone want to take the rest of this home? We’ve decided we don’t like it so it won’t get eaten otherwise’. We busted her doing it one time.

      1. Canary +5

        When I was in college my grandma would buy 5lb blocks of cheese whenever I was due for a visit and then make a big fuss about how she couldn’t possibly use it all up so I should take some back with me. Very sneaky.

  21. lordpuddleglum +132

    The other day I needed someone to pick me up from the train and my dad texted me ” I’m your driver tonight so text me when it’s time. This makes me, once again, UBER dad!!!!”

    Peak Dad people, peak Dad.

  22. Household_Opera +14

    IT IS CRISP! Or, as my dad, the descendent of Scottish people, used to say, “It’s right nippy out.”

  23. Laura +42

    This may be stating the obvious, but I love Dad Magazine not only for itself but also for the outpouring of Dad-appreciation that it brings out here on the ol’ Toast. So far beyond the social stereotypes of dads (which are so unflattering, narrow, and boring) yet it still identifies a lovable set of Dad eccentricities, identifiable as such.

    And, if I’m honest, it reminds me that I am turning into a Dad with surprising alacrity. Looking for an opportunity to say “Dang, it is crisp!” maybe as soon as tomorrow morning!

    1. VaguelyDownward +15

      Yes! I love the combination of gentle mocking and sincere fondness for all things Dad that comes out in these comments. It always makes me want to call my dad.

  24. Daniel_Loo +15

    It doesn’t get crisp here, so my dad’s version of this is keeping us all updated on when the trade winds are coming back.

    And because he used to do search and rescue for a long time, whenever there’s a rescue operation in progress (like there was yesterday) he keeps up a running commentary via family-wide text messages.

    1. Lady_Honoria +22

      My dad used to drive me 30 minutes to school, and we’d go past a reservoir. He would always comment on the height of the water, and we started using one particular rock to monitor it.

      When I was living on exchange in China, my mother would write me letters and then the last 1/2 a page would be my dad. Mostly he just told me how high the water was compared to that rock. One time he drew a picture of it for me.

      1. Daniel_Loo +6

        Thanks for sharing, that is just THE BEST.

        We have a measuring rock too! Since high school, me and my dad have used a certain rock in the river to figure out if it’s safe to swim or not. He’s never drawn it for me, though, I don’t think he’s too good at that.

  25. CMT +24

    You guys! Yesterday my dad called me to explain that when he has fish that’s going bad, he just washes it off (because the bacteria is just on the surface), followed by a story in which he actually used bleach to wash off a piece of halibut that was going bad (because obviously you can’t just throw it away), then an explanation of the chemical structure of bleach and what happens to it in the oven, capped off with four minutes of him describing to me his fish broiling method (skin side down first, then flip half-way through). It was the most Dad conversation I’ve ever had.

  26. Unreadaethel +34

    I received (and archived) the following voice mail from my parents:

    “Hello lovely daughter! This is your parents. We are calling to say hello. [unison] HELLO! That was us, saying hello. There, now we have said hello. Hope to talk to you soon, love you, bye.”

    You have to imagine each clause of that last sentence dropping in pitch by at least a third to get the full effect.

    1. Mrs_Peel +14

      My late grandma always used to call me with the speakerphone on, leave her message, and then forget to hang up. So I would get a half-hour-long recording of her doing things around the kitchen and watching TV.

      One time my uncle was visiting, and I got a bonus recording of him playing the piano while they talked about where to go for dinner.

      1. Unreadaethel +9

        Oh man, we just had the most adorable little old grandfather-type come in to the store looking for rope gasketing to fix his daughter’s wood stove (such dad, very wow), and he told me that I must have a twin sister who works at Plow & Hearth. It actually really seemed to delight/confuse him, my having a doppelgänger.

  27. isabelcooper +23

    My dad just forwarded the entire immediate family a WSJ article about how it’s TOTALLY HIP to wear socks with sandals these days, all the cool kids are doing it.

  28. omggg +18

    I recently returned from a family vacation, with my dad! We went to the beach with my tweenage brother and sister, with a massive assortment of folding chairs, umbrellas, coolers, and a pop-up half tent thing that looks like a clamshell. After assembling all this stuff, my dad lost the hotel key in the surf and had to go to the realtor across town for a new one. MEANWHILE, I was left supervising two incredibly bored and antsy adolescents and we all sizzled in the sun like pieces of bacon for several hours.

    That night we went to dinner at a family seafood buffet. My brother spoke in a ~faaAAAaaancy voice~ all through dinner, my sister accidentally mentioned gay anime porn at the dinner table. She spent the rest of the meal backtracking- she hasn’t SEEN it, she’s only HEARD about it, and that she also hasn’t seen slash fanfiction either, but she ships Johnlock. My dad had a pile of like 30 crab legs and ate them angrily. He was wearing a shirt patterned with freshwater fish and fishing lures. Dinner was $30 a person and the restaurant had several kinds of cheese sauce and many colorless steamed vegetables.

    There is a nature preserve with wild ponies nearby, we went there the next day. My dad was in a better mood and did the cornholio thing from Beavis and Butthead. There are signs all over the island saying that the ponies bite and kick, so he had us watch the pony safety video. I told him that wild ponies couldn’t drag me away and he sighed very heavily.

    That evening his girlfriend joined us. She says things like “oh shitarski!” and “oh shihtzu!” instead of swearing. Her sons (my age, late 20s) are nicknamed Bubba and Boo-boo and TO THIS DAY I’m not sure what their real names are. She got him a pair of (regular, normal) swim trunks that were made by Speedo, and told everyone back home that my dad wore a speedo on the vacation. There’s a picture of him wearing them and covered in sunblock, he’s very proud of it.

    1. walrathem +3

      But you got to make the wild pony joke before he did so the whole weekend was a win! PS was a comment made re: the value of the $30-per dinner for what was paid? I usually get a breakdown by buffet options as to which combinations of appetizers, entrees and desserts combine to be worth at least the cost.

      1. omggg +2

        Unfortunately no! But he got at least four plates himself and advised us not to fill up on mac and cheese. Words of wisdom.

  29. Strophoria +3

    In the spirit of Dad Mag I would like to share the following photo, the best dad joke of all time:

    Unfortunately, when my partner came out to his dad this weekend, he got “so does that mean you’ll leave Strophoria for a MAN?” and he of course answered that a) Strophoria isn’t a woman and you know that, so why are you surprised and b) nobody’s leaving anybody, we’re poly and you know that too. Ugh parents suck sometimes.
    “Hey, I’m not straight and my partner is trans” Fine.
    “Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m Officially Bisexual” WHATTTT!?

  30. Household_Opera +17

    I just got a promotional email from a knitting site I’ve ordered from, prominently featuring their new collection of fall sweaters for men: “Cozy cardigans for outside adventures!” “Toasty pullovers for fireside evenings with piping hot tea!” “Snuggly scarves for autumn afternoon musings!” It was like reading Dad Magazine: Special Fall Sweater Supplement.

  31. lolfunberry +9

    I am late to this, but last month right after the perseid meteor shower my dad explained to me how he was up anyway at 4:30 am (I guess that’s a normal morning wake up time these days?!), so he went out in the yard with his chihuahua and laid on the deck to watch and then fell asleep for a while.

  33. cleoreads +9

    My mom had surgery on her thyroid last week (everything went well and was normal). To get ready, my dad came up with long list of soft foods and asked my mom which ones she wanted him to make / get for her recovery.

    My mom looked over his three column list and said “ice cream”.

  34. cleo

    My mom had surgery on her thyroid last week (everything went well and was normal). To get ready, my dad came up with long list of soft foods and asked my mom which ones she wanted him to make / get for her recovery.

    My mom looked over his three column list and said "ice cream".

  35. nonasuchvtg +13

    I will always treasure the video my dad sent my sisters and me when my parents went to Harry Potter World– he wanted us to see the dragon breathe fire, so he stood there for EIGHT MINUTES waiting for it to go off, and then sent us the full eight minute video because he didn’t know how to edit it. DADS.

  36. holli

    I will always treasure the video my dad sent my sisters and me when my parents went to Harry Potter World– he wanted us to see the dragon breathe fire, so he stood there for EIGHT MINUTES waiting for it to go off, and then sent us the full eight minute video because he didn't know how to edit it. DADS.

  37. Rebecca J

    oh yeah I do too. The last time I went home he didn't give me gas money. Or money to fly to a family funeral. I was simultaneously happy and sad. (I have a job now, there is no need). But it's still a nice thing.