This blog was archived from June 20, 2016.
We were able to spend Father's Day weekend in San Diego, right before the heat comes in to Vegas! It helped that we had events to shoot, so we decided to make a 4-day trip out of it. The kids got to see their friends while we worked, and we got to even have dinner - and an afternoon BBQ the following day, with dear friends of ours. Truly sealing in the fact that the only things we really miss about California is a bit of a breeze, and the friendships we've made.
Looking through my news feed yesterday was really special, all of the love being poured out to the Dads everywhere. Women who were praising both their husbands and their own father's... it was really refreshing for a change, especially with all that's going on. Then of course, my delight was trumped with posts from a few "feminazis" (exactly what it sounds like for those who don't know... feminists... who are Nazi-like) who wanted to put a damper on the day of other by talking about how offensive celebrating Father's Day is to single mothers and same-sex parents... the lot of it. I don't really understand why this was a debate online to begin with, I mean... WHO CARES if someone wants to celebrate and what is it to you...but reading in to comments on these posts I was shocked to find out there are actually other idiots people who think the same way - offended by everything! Help me, help me...I'm offended. Here is just a sample of one post that was circulating around. Irritating, right?
Lately I do feel as though celebrating not just father's... but families, in America, is becoming a bad thing. How dare we celebrate a great family when there are so many people who come from broken homes? -_- This seems to be the thought-process, this seems to be the "offense". The truth is, America used* to celebrate FAMILY life, and due to the overwhelming PC-era we have dumbed it down entirely. Father's hold a VERY important role in society. We can go in to this deeper, but you look at just about ANY story of a serial killer, and weapons-debate aside, what are they all lacking? They come from father-less homes. This is not to say that single mothers are not capable of raising children, so hold on to your offended-stance for a second, this is to point out that there IS value in having not just a father-figure, but a good father (or father-figure) at home. We never seem to want to tread on the history of the person, since it's something we cannot fix. An easy fix would be to take away weapons used, but if we cannot look deep in to how these people were raised, how are we going to attempt to solve this for the next generation? You know those Boston priest rapes that were reported? (If you haven't seen Spotlight, you have to put it on your must-watch list!) Guess who their target was? Young boys growing up in homes with out fathers. Some had father's who were deceased, some just had absentee fathers. They were considered easier targets, since the mother's were longing for an older man to come in to their child's lives, and since the boys on their own were longing for that bond of a father. In the investigations of the Spotlight team, they discovered that the victims (or sadly, the survivors, since so many ended up committing suicide), had the same types of childhood. This is not to say that it's ONLY boys without fathers that get picked in this some times cruel world, but the statistics will show that children are more likely to have a tougher time growing up or making poor choices in homes without a father. These are just unfortunate incidents, I am sure no single-mother out there is thrilled that she's in the position she is in, once again, this is not to OFFEND, I just just listing off facts. I have a cousin who grew up without a father. His mother raised him and wanted there to be a father-figure around. So she enrolled him in karate. He is a grown man today and considers his sensei (instructor/teacher) his father. He says that without this person in his life, who knows where he would have ended up.
I could honestly get so much more in to this, but that might require a sit-down for you with a nice bottle of wine and an open-mind. Call me crazy, but when I hear about horrors that people commit, I immediately wonder about this person's childhood. I think about what type of home they were raised in... and I can tell you, that in just about every case, there was a lack of love and affection from a father. Don't take my word for it, go ahead and look this up yourself. I always encourage people to do their own research. We as parents have this amazing job to not only raise up children to be as healthy and strong as they can be, but to love them so fiercely and have them witness love so that they cannot grow up to have hate in their hearts.. we all know what hate* can bring. I loved Allie's post from last week where she thanked her stepfather for coming in and choosing to love her, and to be her father, even still, after she is out of the house. The key word here folks is "choose". Every day we make these choices, especially with kids, to teach love, or hate. To show love or hate.
I don't think that it should only be a day of celebration by the way. We have to continue throughout the year to show these amazing Dads how grateful we are for them, and how loved they are. A small gesture goes a long way!
For now, and since it's Monday and I have my work cut out for me and that doesn't mean being a keyboard warrior, I am so happy we were able to celebrate the good men in our lives yesterday, I hope this doesn't tradition get "banned". I want us to come back to an understanding that just because you don't have something or didn't grow up with something, it doesn't make that person's role in society any less important. So I truly hope that all of the good* men who stuck around, toughed it out, and make CHOICES every day, whether it's easy to or not, had an amazing day yesterday and were just as spoiled and treated as the good mother's we celebrate in May. You got a good man? Treat them right. You got a good baby-daddy? Chain them up and throw away the key! Haha! ;) Have a great week everyone! <3
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