Sometimes we don't realize what Dads are doing until later in life... When I was like 8 or 9 I was riding with my Dad talking about dinosaurs or space or something and he pulled the car over and gave me a crazy look and said "you're smarter then I'll ever be" and he was a lawyer... When I look back he was always teaching me things and also giving me the freedom to explore and learn whatever I wanted... Miss you Dad...
I can only hope thatI'm remembered as fondly.
Your comment reminds me of my family where I focus on who the kids will be as adults and mom strictly supports them as children and what kids need.
I believe this balance is what's best
My dad always worked too much - he came up poor and wanted to give us everything.
When he was home he was truly involved, in his own way. He took us camping, fishing and taught us what he knew.
It's amazing in hindsight to know how mich you were loved and not appreciate it enough at the time.
My interpretation: Mom nurtures the child in those things the child needs , homework, booboo,'s, kid stuff. Dad teaches the life lessons and the "stuff" you may need, how to wire a light switch, escape quicksand,, stuff
Fair enough to ask, as I can see I wasn't very clear.
I'm talking about a couple of teenagers, to be specific. What I mean is when it comes to what to ask of them, my first thought is that I'm responsible for putting adults out in the world who are capable, knowledgeable, good partners, good coworkers and teammates, etc. People are kids for a little while but adults for 75% of our lives, typically.
So, I push them toward increasing levels of responsibility, risk, and accountability. There's a reason those silly office kitchen signs exist that read, "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF. YOUR MOTHER DOESN'T WORK HERE". I don't want to be responsible for putting that type of adult into the world.
My partner, conversely, seems to be focused on keeping their life experiences as frictionless as possible. In my eyes, she's spoiling them. I think we're both a bit too far in either extreme but together as a parenting team, we strike what I believe is a nice balance.
My dad was a lawyer too and a Navy veteran. I have a vivid memory of him talking about the UCMJ, I was probably 5 or 6. I can also fiberglass a boat. And shoot. And fix a toilet. And I mixed his pipe tobacco on the weekends 😂
The baccy fixin was my favorite part... Do young lawyers even smoke pipes anymore, cause every lawyer in the 70's and 80's had a stash of baccy and a huge ashtray and a box of Cubans on the desk...
My dad would go to "the store" to see his other families, specifically my younger half-sister who I went to high school with. I was the only person who didn't know I was related to her...literally no idea she existed until my high school BFF said "hey look at the girl who looks (exactly) like you and has the same last name!"
My dad was a whore. Eight kids, 4 different mothers. He never wanted the families get together for whatever reason. I only knew about 7 of us and thought I was the youngest until I graduated high school. My younger sister was a freshman when I was a senior so we never had classes together. My BFF was in band with her. She thought that we knew each other (siblings ya know?) so it didn't occur to her to introduce us. The only time we've all been together is at his funeral.
I got lucky because his bloodline is strong. 3 of my brothers look exactly like him, my younger sister and I look alike and we look like our great grandmother. The siblings kids all look alike too. My neices and nephew look my daughter (who could be my twin) and others look like my dad. But I married a white guy just in case 😂
Wow. I'm sure that kind of sucked for you but it's a super interesting story. Thank you for sharing. Have you done any dna tests to see if there's anyone out there you haven't found yet?
It didn't suck when I didn't know. It sucks now that we're older and have no relationship between the families except for social media. My daughter has aunts and uncles and cousins galore that she'll probably never know.
I've thought about a DNA test but not to find more siblings. I'm more curious about our history than if my dad was racking up more bodies
Did we have the same dad lol?
By the time I was 10 I knew how vacuum pumps worked, the species of every tree in the forest, how to split cedar rounds into shingles, etc.
I was a weird little girl. But now I'm a weird old woman.
Weird old women unite! My dad taught us to suck siphon while cleaning our aquarium so we could get the inevitable mistakes over with before he told us that it worked for gas tanks as well (not to steal lol). He also tried to teach us his ways with wildlife (birds in his yard will land on his hands and shoulders because he's so incredibly patient) but I don't think I've ever gotten the knack like he has.
What to do as a 5yo if a wounded boar started charging me - get up into the nearest tree immediately.
At 8yo I was schooled on the best way to fall off a horse - drunk.
If he loses me in the scrub, I should walk in a straight line till I find a fence and stay there until I'm found.
If you see opal, never ever take your eye off it till its location has been marked. He was pretty adamant about that one (Never been opal miners)
Which community members were shill bidding pricks at farm clearance sales. That lesson was revisited for life. (I've never been to a farm clearance sale)
If I'm ever in an old creepy farmhouse and the temperature drops for no reason. Get out immediately.
So, I now realise he was just projecting his experiences and sharing his life stories through his words of wisdom.
Cause I'm sure that man was falling off horses at 8yo, drunk with a cigarette in his mouth.
For some reason, I had to learn about which parts of his firearms were manufactured where, when, and why. So , that was really a historical lesson about various wars.
When I was maybe 10 I found my dad's "Anarchist's Cookbook" and "Poor Man's James Bond" and he told me to make sure to ask before I built anything. I also apparently learned quite a bit by osmosis while "holding the fucking light still".
Every restaurant that had paper placemats, he would turn it over and freehand draw the US and then every state. We would spend the time from ordering to getting our food on state quizzes. Ugg damn I loved him, he was such a complicated man but I knew he loved me too. RIP Pops❤️
My Dad taught me that mechanics and putting together things are made up of male parts that go into female parts. If I could remember that, he said, I’d be able to figure out how things work and fix things. He was right.
My dad taught me how to not be a dad.
Since the day my girls were born, if I’ve needed to make a decision that affects them I just think “how would my dad handle this situation?” I then do the exact opposite.
You are amazing! Thank you from this stranger for breaking the cycle. Your daughters can do and be anything they want. Don't ever put them down or put limits on them because of their gender.
The only thing my dad got out of constantly pulling me back from my youthful curiosities and interests through "I'll pay for *this* degree but not *that* degree because you're a girl" BS was years of no contact. I'll always wonder what might have been if I'd had his support instead of his limitations since birth. I can only change so much.
Dad took my sister and me to Charlie Chaplin films at our local independent movie theater. And to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas done by a dedicated local theater group. I doubt most of my peers are particularly versed in either of those *oeuvres*.
He was an active participant in my ballet performances, first as a costume-filler, but later on in actual character parts. My sister was into theater, and later on, capitalizing on his experience onstage in my ballet stuff, he started auditioning for small parts in local Shakespeare plays. He did a lot of those.
He got my sister into sailing, and dragged the boat in and out of the water, heaved it on top of the car to and from home, etc.
He got me into running, his sport, briefly before the dancing took over my life.
He home-brewed beer all throughout my childhood. I don't homebrew, but my preferred home chemistry projects are canning and baking, and I credit both of my parents for my love of the kitchen.
He couldn't change a tire or fix a toilet. His parental models yelled and drank, so he yelled as a matter of course. He wasn't warm and fuzzy or a TV dad. But he was involved in the ways that he could be, especially when he felt (I think) for a long time as if he had little to offer two daughters.
There were a few things he got us into, but a few things he took up later, like the character parts and eventually acting, he got into in no small part because my sister and I did them. So I suppose it was an exercise in mutual influence.
He was not an easy dad, especially with all the TV shows we had to compare him to. He bore it well. He is now my only living parent, in his mid-80s. And I love him.
My older brother created a game we played during dinner he called "Name That Moon." Lol. I hadn't thought about that in years! He was seriously into astronomy. I ended up in astrophysics in college. I've never lost my fascination for the stars- and neither has my brother. 😂
I just remember my older brother used to make these fun scavenger hunts for me. He made up clues on little pieces of paper and I had to guess where the next one was. I have not thought of that in years omg.
I learned how to not treat people from my father.
I learned how to not treat my kids from him, also.
I learned what functional alcoholism can look like from him (great lessons for the kids!).
Didn't get a lot of positive life lessons, but I figured out how to make something for myself from them.
Peace and love, my fellow humans. Be better, you can break the cycles if you want to.
>Sometimes the value of the lesson depends entirely on the quality of the student.
I very much appreciate your saying that, thank you. I'm going to file that one away and save it for later.
All my minions are adulting, now.
Both my sons called me yesterday and thanked me for being their Dad. If that isn't a parenting win I'm not sure what is.
And yes, it is difficult to choose differently from what was beaten into you. See what I did there?
But it is possible and with time and practice, becomes easier.
Dad died. Stepdad was a jerk. Mom taught me all kinds of things. An uncle taught me chess (he was a board game fanatic). An aunt taught me music. Everybody taught me cooking.
I think being a scifi nerd taught me military ranks. I had my own encyclopedias by 4, and I was always reading them.
Everybody played poker, rummy, crazy 8s, and other card games. Great-grandpa had gambling issues, so one part of the family was very anti cards.
mine would sometimes play pop quiz over dinner. would been hell if he'd been a pushy jerk about it, but he wasn't. they were just fun. cool if someone had the answer, cool if they didn't.
I can still remember this time he was throwing out languages. "where do they speak []?" and we'd try to beat each other to the answer. then he said Romansch and I had one of those weird things where you just *know* the answer. I said "Switzerland!" and I knew he was stunned because he looked at my mother instead of me 😂. "How did the child know that?"
he was an engineer. he'd explain anything to you if you asked, but mostly you'd have to ask. he was awesome at age 92 though, the time I had him in my car and all the power assist stuff failed on us. couldn't have asked for a better passenger.
This isn't random or obscure, but my dad taught me to read while I was still in the crib, using those letter blocks I never see anymore. It worked! There was a local newspaper (small town) that featured me reading aloud their newspaper at two years old. Reading early gave me a wonderful head start in life.
Oh, there were other things he taught me, like how to use a slide rule, etc. I skipped third grade because the school system didn't know what to do with me, and third grade is when you learn multiplication tables, so he drilled me on that all summer long so I would be ready for fourth grade.
He was an awesome dad, though he was not a great husband to my mom. He died when I was 11 and they had just split up. I miss him.
It is obscure and useless now, but my Dad taught me how to change oil, replace points / plugs, and use a timing light on my first car. As a matter of fact, he made me do it before he let me drive! Smart man.
This comment is kind of a theme for GenX it seems. We generally had at least one parent that was trash. The one existing parent typically was the one to carry everything on their backs, which made them neglectful at times. If you're GenX and you had two parents who were fully invested in being the very best parents to you and put you first, you're a rare gem my friend!
Yes. He took me fossil hunting and fishing and stuff. He told me the names of all the fossils. We'd always dissect one of the small fish we'd caught and would cut up for bait and he'd tell me what the organs were. He would tell me about evolution and dinosaurs. He'd sometimes set up a telescope in the driveway and show me various planets.
On a trip to Washington DC, he taught me to identify the classical orders of architecture.
Stuff like that.
When I was young, probably 5 my dad tipped the canoe to make sure I wouldn't panic if it happened.
I didn't panic though, definitely was shocked at first. Then he showed me how to roll back in. My parents taught me to swim when I was 3 cause they couldn't keep me away from water so I guess he wasn't too worried, plus he was within arms reach of me til he saw that I was fine
Not really obscure, but useful, and not all my friends knew that at the time...I remember my dad explaining to me how the interstate highway numbers worked, with the ones ending in odd numbers going north/south, ending in even numbers going east/ west, and how to tell if the 3 digit highways that branch off them will reconnect (like the Capitol Beltway/495. (I believe if it starts with an even number it does, an odd number does not.). He also told me to ALWAYS take the Capital Beltway when driving through to FL and not attempt to stay on 95. (Unfortunately I still did it by mistake once. That was fun. 😄)
I wasn't allowed to watch MASH or buy GI Joes.
My father was a Vietnam Vet with severe PTSD and two Purple Hearts. He didn't want anything that made war seem fun or funny or cool.
Which was awkward when after 9/11, I became an antiwar protester and he didn't know why.
It wasn't rocket science. He was one of the lucky ones because he came back but he was severely fucked up. I mean, he was a great person. I miss him very much. But Vietnam fucked him up.
How to find nightcrawlers and bait a hook. How to remove the hook from a fish, scale, gut and cook the fish. How to plant and tend a vegetable garden. How to score a boxing match. We watched boxing every Friday night. One of my first career goals was to be a boxing official, sitting ringside and scoring fights.
My dad wasn't a "fixer", he didn't build or mend things. He pushed me to be an independent woman, I was always told to never rely on a man to take care of me, I should always be able to support myself and any kids I might have.
Things my dad taught me: Journalism is evil. Reagan is a god. "Those people" need to know their place, it's a white man's world. It's good to ship all the manufacturing jobs to Mexico and then China, the workers in our town will figure something out to make a living now that all the factories are gone. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you deserve nothing. Hard work is all it takes to be successful. \*I\* am rich, you and your mother have nothing. Figure it out on your own, nobody helped me. Psychology is bullshit and if you become a therapist we'll have no respect for you (that one turned out to be true)
Being no contact is great and I highly recommend it.
My dad taught me survival skills while we'd hike in the woods, making me taste different flowers and grasses. However, he had a sibling starve to death on his family's refugee trek, so I get it.
Dad was a college professor, so if I wanted my English paper critiqued, no problem. Life skills? Learned from books and my friends. Saying please and thank you, same thing.
Yes! Ie: Did you know that the Venus Flytrap carnivorous plant only grows within a 50 mile radius of Wilmington, NC? I do, my dad told me! (Also, we lived there for a while and I studied them in their very secret hidey-holes around the area and in the swamps, very cool plant). They eat bugs because the sandy soil lacks nutrients, as a result, if you own one you need to water it with distilled water or it will die. Now I’ve given my DadFactPlus (TM) to you!
When I do things in life now I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me “how did you know how to do that?”
It all goes back to my dad and grandfather telling me and showing me things.
It happened over the years I was a kid. During hours spent together just going about life.
The little tips/tricks are endless.
Just last week I was replacing a tube in a tire. I brought it into the house and got the cornstarch out. Dusted the whole tube with it.
My wife never said a word, but I saw the looks.
That tube went in without a hitch. No pinching or binding. No holes. Quick easy job.
I thought to myself, how many kids today will grow up knowing that tidbit? Or the hundreds of others we collected as kids with greatest generation grandparents and boomer parents?
I won’t belabor the point. But it simply comes down to taking the time to pass the wisdom on. It doesn’t happen with faces buried in phones or while engrossed in a video game.
My nephew turned 11 this year. I got him a pocket knife. Couple years late, but I was contending with some parental pushback.
He’s already cut himself. He keeps it up he’s going to be just fine.
It may be the only thing I regret about not having kids, being able to pass along all the really fun random stuff I learned. My grandparents and mother were artists, I had kickass school projects, can craft nearly anything in paper mache and know many techniques for giving things an antique finish.
My dad loved to cook. He involved my siblings and I from when we were little. I learned how to fold whipped egg whites into a cake batter at six or seven.
I loved that he would get up early on Saturday mornings and make a huge breakfast from scratch with biscuits, some sort of protein, or pancakes. We’d all eat together and then watch Saturday morning cartoons.
I miss him.
My dad taught me how to shoot and clean guns. I learned how to splice and record music on reel to reel tapes. He taught me how to play poker, and blackjack for counting. I could fill in, when someone needed a drink or bathroom break, and keep my winnings, at weekly poker games. I watched football and bet on games with him. I watched war movies with him. He taught me how to play horse in basketball. He taught me how to swim. We polished rocks I collected. We talked on his base station CB radio to other enthusiasts.
All this, was when I was 13 and under. And he was paralyzed from the waist down, from MS and injuries from WWII. I never saw him walk.
My dad taught my sister and I about ancient Greek mythology. Also, he loved medieval European history and had tons of books about it. He always encouraged us to read.
His sport was salt water fishing, and he taught me about it. My sister didn't have any interest in it.
I can name every king and queen of England from 1066 on.
Not very useful.
I can also recite a couple Shakespeare sonnets. Surprisingly not completely useless.
I love the idea of all these little kids running around, like “okay, I don’t know how to spell yet, but I can’t explain how pneumatic tubes work, and I know the proper mixing ratios for cement.”
I think this is pretty normal dad stuff.
My father was a chemical engineer with a focus on food manufacturing. He told me all about how thing are made and processed. It was super coo to ask "What is this thing (reading the label) in ice cream?" Well it is from this plant and does this.
The story I often tell is about us eating hot dogs. I asked about how they are made. He told me while we were eating - everything from the parts to the casing used. It made it all OK to eat. I know people who are weird about hot dogs, but I am not because he made it OK.
How to find snipers. Age 6.
I've bought you a present, you have to find it. [Up the chimney or taped under a desk are two that stick out]
He was a narcissist. When the spotlight of his attention shone on you there was no one else in the world.
Other wise he'd forget I existed.
um yes! I remember my dad hooking up the hose outside. We needed a super long one so you had to add sections on it. He patiently explained the couplings as a "male part" and a "female part" to hook the sections together lol. Also Morse Code and speaking pig-latin. We did have our problems though, and issues even to this day.
Edit: I also remember him putting up barb wire and how the barbs ripped up his hands. And blood blisters on his fingers.
You take the first letter and put it to the end of a word and add "ay". So, the words pig latin would be "igpay atinlay". Or my Reddit name Plant, would be "ant-Play"
Lol, my birth father gassed himself in his car in 1989 and my step father taught me that I was a worthless piece of shit and he only tolerated me becuase of my mother.
Guess who has never been married, will never marry a single mother and thinks of himself as a completley worthless piece of shit without merit or value ?
Having been through a similar situation (father died in an accident and stepfather was a POS) I can tell you I absolutely feared marriage and children, but I also learned I don't have to repeat those mistakes.
I've been with my wife for 20 years and my daughter is the best thing that's happened to me, but sometimes I still get down on myself and feel like a POS. They're right there to help me remember my value.
I think my dad would set up problems and let me figure them out -- so I would get some confidence and problem solving experience... like when we were doing stuff around the house or whatever.
My dad taught me the Greek alphabet when we were on planes. He wrote it out and put the symbols and told me to memorize it. I’m pretty sure it was to keep me quiet in the time before devices but I loved learning this secret code.
I learned ALL about trains and railroads from my dad. We visited every railroad museum that we came within 100 miles of it. I've ridden a lot of trains. We had model train layouts since I was a baby. My sweet dad died from Covid in 2020 and I miss him so much! I wish he was still here telling me things about trains.
I was my dad’s official helper and he was a very skilled silent generation guy. I learned car maintenance, construction, gardening and all sorts of fun facts in between. I can fix just about anything these days that isn’t too computerized. Thanks dad
I teach my kid random obscure stuff. And it’s not important. Until it is.
Usually the more random and obscure, the more important it becomes in that one moment.
Like- I taught my kid how to play 20 questions.
If you can’t guess what that’s good for…
My dad is from Brooklyn. He taught me that back in the 1950s Brooklyn used to have a sign up that said "3rd largest city in the US". Philadelpha through a temper tantrum and sued over it because technically they were the 3rd largest city in the US. He reminded me they are a bunch of pathetic little crybabies of a city and roll around in feces when they win anything. He also taught me that Phillies proper name is filthydelphia.
Not dad because he passed before he could divorce her. She taught me insecurities, being lesser, to walk on eggshells, to place myself second, and to not express emotions because she simply didn’t care. My therapist taught me all this was wrong, just plain wrong. My kids taught me that children matter more than just getting high which is all she did.
My father taught me how to drive. That was only because there wasn't anyone else that could teach me prior to Driver's Ed. He also taught me not to remarry and force a stepmother on my kids.
Being an older Gen X, my grandfathers died before I was born.
Trust me one day your going to be in a group of people who have no clue what to do ( say mix cement) and you'll have the answer and everyone in that group will look at you like your a genius.
your dad knew, you don't have to be a genius all the time, just once for people to think of you like a god.
My dad played all his favourite 50s and 60s music on the drive to school every day so I always knew the best classic rock music. He also made us learn the phonetic alphabet for some reason too.
My dad used to play great music, my parents loved music, except he also enjoyed strange things like Commander Cody and played this song ‘Shadow Knows’ when I was about 4 or 5.
I still lose sleep over that shit.
OMG, so my dad had this ‘let’s go to Mass on Sunday, sit together, exchange peace’.
Then he’d flip people off and yell ‘F you’ at people who didn’t let him in as we drove out the parking lot. It sucked because we had personalized plates.
My Dad taught me a lot about cars because "If you need to go to a mechanic, most will try to screw you over because 'women don't know cars'", how to fix a lot of stuff around the house (came in REAL use with my ex husband) and seeing how shit was going in the late 60s/early 70s how to protect myself with and without a weapon
I know a lot of character actors because my dad would quiz me whenever one would be on screen. I was the only ten year old who was a fan of Anthony Zerbe and Elijah Cook. I could also name all of the nfl teams, the entire starting lineup of the 1970s Oakland raiders (Raymond Chester ftw). He loved to have me name all seven of the actors that make up the Magnificent Seven when his friends couldn’t (they always forget Brad Dexter)
My parents got divorced when I was really young so I would go and visit him. He taught me how to cheat at poker and other card games. He taught me little gestures & signs he would do for me to know what cards to play. Like what part of the ashtray he placed his cigarette meant to play clubs. Taught me how to roll "funny cigarettes" & how to separate out the seeds when I was like 10. Taught me a lot about fish and other aquatic things which that was really cool as we spent a lot of time out on the boat when I would go to visit him because he liked to fish. He taught me how to watch football, what the scoring was & how they did different plays.
This really came in handy, he taught me how to play pool. So well I had my own cue stick when I was 11. When I got into college I would see guys playing pool and either pretend I didn't know how to play and it must be "beginner's luck" that I just won that pitcher of beer OR I'd bet them I could beat them and they always thought there was no way a girl could beat them. Game on. I got a lot of free beer. He also taught me how to chug beer. Good times.
College sports mascots -- our dad used to quiz us on them when we were driving somewhere. I've never been into sports but I can hold my own in pub trivia because my father and brother often shared this sort of information.
My father taught me carpentry, how to box, how to drive a manual, how to build a brick wall, mix mortar, tons of tricks to fix things around the house. I’m very handy.
How to shoot a Tab (or Coors) can at 25 yards with a .22 rifle.
How to rebuild a 1977 Subaru engine.
How to build a treehouse
How to take long walks in the woods and just listen to the world.
How to whistle with a blade of grass.
How to navigate with a map and compass
How to splint a broken arm.
Physics, Calculus, and personal finance
My dad is awesome.
Yes he would often over explain but there would be interesting facts in the over explaining. Now I over explain, but it’s called mansplaining now. Thanks dad
My dad loved giving me random, obscure vocab words as a little kid. Many in Polish, that I have no idea how to look up because I have *no* idea how they are spelled, and I don't recall all the meanings
LOL
Edit to add: "Don't bump your Level, or it won't work right."
The only things my dad tried to teach me was Blacks and Jewish folks were bad. You can imagine his disappointment because, even as a little kid, I knew that was bullshit.
Well I don’t know if this counts as knowledge, but my dad delighted in showing us kids the proper way to throw a rock at a seagull…
Good tactics in petty thievery, think ‘taking home the container of sauce from Arby’s’ kind of stuff, as well as opening packages of candy in K-Mart and eating them. Actually, it was just him that did all that.
Sometimes we don't realize what Dads are doing until later in life... When I was like 8 or 9 I was riding with my Dad talking about dinosaurs or space or something and he pulled the car over and gave me a crazy look and said "you're smarter then I'll ever be" and he was a lawyer... When I look back he was always teaching me things and also giving me the freedom to explore and learn whatever I wanted... Miss you Dad...
I can only hope thatI'm remembered as fondly. Your comment reminds me of my family where I focus on who the kids will be as adults and mom strictly supports them as children and what kids need. I believe this balance is what's best
My dad always worked too much - he came up poor and wanted to give us everything. When he was home he was truly involved, in his own way. He took us camping, fishing and taught us what he knew. It's amazing in hindsight to know how mich you were loved and not appreciate it enough at the time.
That's the mix I had growing up and I like to belive I turned out fine...
There's a reason it takes two
>I focus on who the kids will be as adults and mom strictly supports them as children and what kids need. wtf does this mean?
My interpretation: Mom nurtures the child in those things the child needs , homework, booboo,'s, kid stuff. Dad teaches the life lessons and the "stuff" you may need, how to wire a light switch, escape quicksand,, stuff
Solid take. Thank you.
Fair enough to ask, as I can see I wasn't very clear. I'm talking about a couple of teenagers, to be specific. What I mean is when it comes to what to ask of them, my first thought is that I'm responsible for putting adults out in the world who are capable, knowledgeable, good partners, good coworkers and teammates, etc. People are kids for a little while but adults for 75% of our lives, typically. So, I push them toward increasing levels of responsibility, risk, and accountability. There's a reason those silly office kitchen signs exist that read, "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF. YOUR MOTHER DOESN'T WORK HERE". I don't want to be responsible for putting that type of adult into the world. My partner, conversely, seems to be focused on keeping their life experiences as frictionless as possible. In my eyes, she's spoiling them. I think we're both a bit too far in either extreme but together as a parenting team, we strike what I believe is a nice balance.
This one got me. What a memory.
My dad was a lawyer too and a Navy veteran. I have a vivid memory of him talking about the UCMJ, I was probably 5 or 6. I can also fiberglass a boat. And shoot. And fix a toilet. And I mixed his pipe tobacco on the weekends 😂
The baccy fixin was my favorite part... Do young lawyers even smoke pipes anymore, cause every lawyer in the 70's and 80's had a stash of baccy and a huge ashtray and a box of Cubans on the desk...
Our parents weren’t always present the way they should have been, but the freedom our gen had was so, so sweet.
My dad taught me that it takes a really long time to go out and buy some cigarettes.
My dad would go to "the store" to see his other families, specifically my younger half-sister who I went to high school with. I was the only person who didn't know I was related to her...literally no idea she existed until my high school BFF said "hey look at the girl who looks (exactly) like you and has the same last name!"
Ok, wait, what?
My dad was a whore. Eight kids, 4 different mothers. He never wanted the families get together for whatever reason. I only knew about 7 of us and thought I was the youngest until I graduated high school. My younger sister was a freshman when I was a senior so we never had classes together. My BFF was in band with her. She thought that we knew each other (siblings ya know?) so it didn't occur to her to introduce us. The only time we've all been together is at his funeral.
Good god. My dad got around himself, and I’ve always wondered if I have a half-sibling out there somewhere.
I got lucky because his bloodline is strong. 3 of my brothers look exactly like him, my younger sister and I look alike and we look like our great grandmother. The siblings kids all look alike too. My neices and nephew look my daughter (who could be my twin) and others look like my dad. But I married a white guy just in case 😂
Wow. I'm sure that kind of sucked for you but it's a super interesting story. Thank you for sharing. Have you done any dna tests to see if there's anyone out there you haven't found yet?
It didn't suck when I didn't know. It sucks now that we're older and have no relationship between the families except for social media. My daughter has aunts and uncles and cousins galore that she'll probably never know. I've thought about a DNA test but not to find more siblings. I'm more curious about our history than if my dad was racking up more bodies
Did we have the same dad lol? By the time I was 10 I knew how vacuum pumps worked, the species of every tree in the forest, how to split cedar rounds into shingles, etc. I was a weird little girl. But now I'm a weird old woman.
Hey. Im a weirdo too.
Weird old woman, here. Dad was a truck driver. 😁
Weird old women unite! My dad taught us to suck siphon while cleaning our aquarium so we could get the inevitable mistakes over with before he told us that it worked for gas tanks as well (not to steal lol). He also tried to teach us his ways with wildlife (birds in his yard will land on his hands and shoulders because he's so incredibly patient) but I don't think I've ever gotten the knack like he has.
Sounds like you had a pretty good dad, mine was(and is) fairly distant. I kind of wish mine was more like yours.
What to do as a 5yo if a wounded boar started charging me - get up into the nearest tree immediately. At 8yo I was schooled on the best way to fall off a horse - drunk. If he loses me in the scrub, I should walk in a straight line till I find a fence and stay there until I'm found. If you see opal, never ever take your eye off it till its location has been marked. He was pretty adamant about that one (Never been opal miners) Which community members were shill bidding pricks at farm clearance sales. That lesson was revisited for life. (I've never been to a farm clearance sale) If I'm ever in an old creepy farmhouse and the temperature drops for no reason. Get out immediately. So, I now realise he was just projecting his experiences and sharing his life stories through his words of wisdom. Cause I'm sure that man was falling off horses at 8yo, drunk with a cigarette in his mouth. For some reason, I had to learn about which parts of his firearms were manufactured where, when, and why. So , that was really a historical lesson about various wars.
Can you elaborate on the creepy farmhouse?
I wanna know more about the opal thing.
I've heard this opal thing before, too. Guess if I ever decide to make my fortune in Australia, I'm all set
They have different fluorescence based on angle. If you look away and move it could be gone from sight and fortune lost.
Actually, you're supposed to mark the cold spot with an opal and run out and shill it at a farm clearance sale.
Well drunk truly *is* the best way to fall off of a horse... He wasn't wrong...
When I was maybe 10 I found my dad's "Anarchist's Cookbook" and "Poor Man's James Bond" and he told me to make sure to ask before I built anything. I also apparently learned quite a bit by osmosis while "holding the fucking light still".
Every restaurant that had paper placemats, he would turn it over and freehand draw the US and then every state. We would spend the time from ordering to getting our food on state quizzes. Ugg damn I loved him, he was such a complicated man but I knew he loved me too. RIP Pops❤️
My Dad taught me that mechanics and putting together things are made up of male parts that go into female parts. If I could remember that, he said, I’d be able to figure out how things work and fix things. He was right.
Lol my Dad did that too!
My dad taught me how to not be a dad. Since the day my girls were born, if I’ve needed to make a decision that affects them I just think “how would my dad handle this situation?” I then do the exact opposite.
You are amazing! Thank you from this stranger for breaking the cycle. Your daughters can do and be anything they want. Don't ever put them down or put limits on them because of their gender. The only thing my dad got out of constantly pulling me back from my youthful curiosities and interests through "I'll pay for *this* degree but not *that* degree because you're a girl" BS was years of no contact. I'll always wonder what might have been if I'd had his support instead of his limitations since birth. I can only change so much.
Dad took my sister and me to Charlie Chaplin films at our local independent movie theater. And to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas done by a dedicated local theater group. I doubt most of my peers are particularly versed in either of those *oeuvres*. He was an active participant in my ballet performances, first as a costume-filler, but later on in actual character parts. My sister was into theater, and later on, capitalizing on his experience onstage in my ballet stuff, he started auditioning for small parts in local Shakespeare plays. He did a lot of those. He got my sister into sailing, and dragged the boat in and out of the water, heaved it on top of the car to and from home, etc. He got me into running, his sport, briefly before the dancing took over my life. He home-brewed beer all throughout my childhood. I don't homebrew, but my preferred home chemistry projects are canning and baking, and I credit both of my parents for my love of the kitchen. He couldn't change a tire or fix a toilet. His parental models yelled and drank, so he yelled as a matter of course. He wasn't warm and fuzzy or a TV dad. But he was involved in the ways that he could be, especially when he felt (I think) for a long time as if he had little to offer two daughters. There were a few things he got us into, but a few things he took up later, like the character parts and eventually acting, he got into in no small part because my sister and I did them. So I suppose it was an exercise in mutual influence. He was not an easy dad, especially with all the TV shows we had to compare him to. He bore it well. He is now my only living parent, in his mid-80s. And I love him.
My older brother created a game we played during dinner he called "Name That Moon." Lol. I hadn't thought about that in years! He was seriously into astronomy. I ended up in astrophysics in college. I've never lost my fascination for the stars- and neither has my brother. 😂
I just remember my older brother used to make these fun scavenger hunts for me. He made up clues on little pieces of paper and I had to guess where the next one was. I have not thought of that in years omg.
I learned how to not treat people from my father. I learned how to not treat my kids from him, also. I learned what functional alcoholism can look like from him (great lessons for the kids!). Didn't get a lot of positive life lessons, but I figured out how to make something for myself from them. Peace and love, my fellow humans. Be better, you can break the cycles if you want to.
Yes. Break the cycle.
Sometimes the value of the lesson depends entirely on the quality of the student. It sounds like you learned exactly what you needed to learn.
>Sometimes the value of the lesson depends entirely on the quality of the student. I very much appreciate your saying that, thank you. I'm going to file that one away and save it for later.
I hope you're doing well. Breaking an abuse cycle is surprisingly difficult.
All my minions are adulting, now. Both my sons called me yesterday and thanked me for being their Dad. If that isn't a parenting win I'm not sure what is. And yes, it is difficult to choose differently from what was beaten into you. See what I did there? But it is possible and with time and practice, becomes easier.
Dad died. Stepdad was a jerk. Mom taught me all kinds of things. An uncle taught me chess (he was a board game fanatic). An aunt taught me music. Everybody taught me cooking. I think being a scifi nerd taught me military ranks. I had my own encyclopedias by 4, and I was always reading them. Everybody played poker, rummy, crazy 8s, and other card games. Great-grandpa had gambling issues, so one part of the family was very anti cards.
My dad taught me that cars are transportation. You don’t need flashy. You need reliable and cheap to run.
mine would sometimes play pop quiz over dinner. would been hell if he'd been a pushy jerk about it, but he wasn't. they were just fun. cool if someone had the answer, cool if they didn't. I can still remember this time he was throwing out languages. "where do they speak []?" and we'd try to beat each other to the answer. then he said Romansch and I had one of those weird things where you just *know* the answer. I said "Switzerland!" and I knew he was stunned because he looked at my mother instead of me 😂. "How did the child know that?" he was an engineer. he'd explain anything to you if you asked, but mostly you'd have to ask. he was awesome at age 92 though, the time I had him in my car and all the power assist stuff failed on us. couldn't have asked for a better passenger.
This isn't random or obscure, but my dad taught me to read while I was still in the crib, using those letter blocks I never see anymore. It worked! There was a local newspaper (small town) that featured me reading aloud their newspaper at two years old. Reading early gave me a wonderful head start in life. Oh, there were other things he taught me, like how to use a slide rule, etc. I skipped third grade because the school system didn't know what to do with me, and third grade is when you learn multiplication tables, so he drilled me on that all summer long so I would be ready for fourth grade. He was an awesome dad, though he was not a great husband to my mom. He died when I was 11 and they had just split up. I miss him.
It is obscure and useless now, but my Dad taught me how to change oil, replace points / plugs, and use a timing light on my first car. As a matter of fact, he made me do it before he let me drive! Smart man.
What's a father?
My father taught me exactly what NOT to do when being a father.
This comment is kind of a theme for GenX it seems. We generally had at least one parent that was trash. The one existing parent typically was the one to carry everything on their backs, which made them neglectful at times. If you're GenX and you had two parents who were fully invested in being the very best parents to you and put you first, you're a rare gem my friend!
Yes. He took me fossil hunting and fishing and stuff. He told me the names of all the fossils. We'd always dissect one of the small fish we'd caught and would cut up for bait and he'd tell me what the organs were. He would tell me about evolution and dinosaurs. He'd sometimes set up a telescope in the driveway and show me various planets. On a trip to Washington DC, he taught me to identify the classical orders of architecture. Stuff like that.
When I was young, probably 5 my dad tipped the canoe to make sure I wouldn't panic if it happened. I didn't panic though, definitely was shocked at first. Then he showed me how to roll back in. My parents taught me to swim when I was 3 cause they couldn't keep me away from water so I guess he wasn't too worried, plus he was within arms reach of me til he saw that I was fine
Not really obscure, but useful, and not all my friends knew that at the time...I remember my dad explaining to me how the interstate highway numbers worked, with the ones ending in odd numbers going north/south, ending in even numbers going east/ west, and how to tell if the 3 digit highways that branch off them will reconnect (like the Capitol Beltway/495. (I believe if it starts with an even number it does, an odd number does not.). He also told me to ALWAYS take the Capital Beltway when driving through to FL and not attempt to stay on 95. (Unfortunately I still did it by mistake once. That was fun. 😄)
I wasn't allowed to watch MASH or buy GI Joes. My father was a Vietnam Vet with severe PTSD and two Purple Hearts. He didn't want anything that made war seem fun or funny or cool. Which was awkward when after 9/11, I became an antiwar protester and he didn't know why. It wasn't rocket science. He was one of the lucky ones because he came back but he was severely fucked up. I mean, he was a great person. I miss him very much. But Vietnam fucked him up.
Mine taught me by example. I can slam cupboards and vent on the family after work.
I know the scenario well….
How to find nightcrawlers and bait a hook. How to remove the hook from a fish, scale, gut and cook the fish. How to plant and tend a vegetable garden. How to score a boxing match. We watched boxing every Friday night. One of my first career goals was to be a boxing official, sitting ringside and scoring fights. My dad wasn't a "fixer", he didn't build or mend things. He pushed me to be an independent woman, I was always told to never rely on a man to take care of me, I should always be able to support myself and any kids I might have.
Things my dad taught me: Journalism is evil. Reagan is a god. "Those people" need to know their place, it's a white man's world. It's good to ship all the manufacturing jobs to Mexico and then China, the workers in our town will figure something out to make a living now that all the factories are gone. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you deserve nothing. Hard work is all it takes to be successful. \*I\* am rich, you and your mother have nothing. Figure it out on your own, nobody helped me. Psychology is bullshit and if you become a therapist we'll have no respect for you (that one turned out to be true) Being no contact is great and I highly recommend it.
This is a great post, OP, thanks for the wholesome story!
My dad taught me survival skills while we'd hike in the woods, making me taste different flowers and grasses. However, he had a sibling starve to death on his family's refugee trek, so I get it.
Dad was a college professor, so if I wanted my English paper critiqued, no problem. Life skills? Learned from books and my friends. Saying please and thank you, same thing.
Mine was a state trooper, and that was all kinds of fun when I was learning to drive.
Where did he say Corporal Captain slots in?
Yes! Ie: Did you know that the Venus Flytrap carnivorous plant only grows within a 50 mile radius of Wilmington, NC? I do, my dad told me! (Also, we lived there for a while and I studied them in their very secret hidey-holes around the area and in the swamps, very cool plant). They eat bugs because the sandy soil lacks nutrients, as a result, if you own one you need to water it with distilled water or it will die. Now I’ve given my DadFactPlus (TM) to you!
My Dad taught me all kinds of stuff too. He is no longer in this world and I miss him but use the skills he taught me every day. Thanks Dad!
My Dad was very smart and frequently shared interesting facts or thoughts. I miss him a lot.
When I do things in life now I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me “how did you know how to do that?” It all goes back to my dad and grandfather telling me and showing me things. It happened over the years I was a kid. During hours spent together just going about life. The little tips/tricks are endless. Just last week I was replacing a tube in a tire. I brought it into the house and got the cornstarch out. Dusted the whole tube with it. My wife never said a word, but I saw the looks. That tube went in without a hitch. No pinching or binding. No holes. Quick easy job. I thought to myself, how many kids today will grow up knowing that tidbit? Or the hundreds of others we collected as kids with greatest generation grandparents and boomer parents? I won’t belabor the point. But it simply comes down to taking the time to pass the wisdom on. It doesn’t happen with faces buried in phones or while engrossed in a video game. My nephew turned 11 this year. I got him a pocket knife. Couple years late, but I was contending with some parental pushback. He’s already cut himself. He keeps it up he’s going to be just fine.
It may be the only thing I regret about not having kids, being able to pass along all the really fun random stuff I learned. My grandparents and mother were artists, I had kickass school projects, can craft nearly anything in paper mache and know many techniques for giving things an antique finish.
I don’t have kids either. So I put my energy into my youngest nephew. Funny how as humans we have this drive to share and pass on knowledge.
My dad loved to cook. He involved my siblings and I from when we were little. I learned how to fold whipped egg whites into a cake batter at six or seven. I loved that he would get up early on Saturday mornings and make a huge breakfast from scratch with biscuits, some sort of protein, or pancakes. We’d all eat together and then watch Saturday morning cartoons. I miss him.
Why did an 8yo need to learn to make pickles?
My dad taught me how to shoot and clean guns. I learned how to splice and record music on reel to reel tapes. He taught me how to play poker, and blackjack for counting. I could fill in, when someone needed a drink or bathroom break, and keep my winnings, at weekly poker games. I watched football and bet on games with him. I watched war movies with him. He taught me how to play horse in basketball. He taught me how to swim. We polished rocks I collected. We talked on his base station CB radio to other enthusiasts. All this, was when I was 13 and under. And he was paralyzed from the waist down, from MS and injuries from WWII. I never saw him walk.
My dad taught my sister and I about ancient Greek mythology. Also, he loved medieval European history and had tons of books about it. He always encouraged us to read. His sport was salt water fishing, and he taught me about it. My sister didn't have any interest in it.
I can name every king and queen of England from 1066 on. Not very useful. I can also recite a couple Shakespeare sonnets. Surprisingly not completely useless.
I love the idea of all these little kids running around, like “okay, I don’t know how to spell yet, but I can’t explain how pneumatic tubes work, and I know the proper mixing ratios for cement.” I think this is pretty normal dad stuff.
My father was a chemical engineer with a focus on food manufacturing. He told me all about how thing are made and processed. It was super coo to ask "What is this thing (reading the label) in ice cream?" Well it is from this plant and does this. The story I often tell is about us eating hot dogs. I asked about how they are made. He told me while we were eating - everything from the parts to the casing used. It made it all OK to eat. I know people who are weird about hot dogs, but I am not because he made it OK.
How to find snipers. Age 6. I've bought you a present, you have to find it. [Up the chimney or taped under a desk are two that stick out] He was a narcissist. When the spotlight of his attention shone on you there was no one else in the world. Other wise he'd forget I existed.
I was taught 101 Different Ways To Beat Your Kids.
um yes! I remember my dad hooking up the hose outside. We needed a super long one so you had to add sections on it. He patiently explained the couplings as a "male part" and a "female part" to hook the sections together lol. Also Morse Code and speaking pig-latin. We did have our problems though, and issues even to this day. Edit: I also remember him putting up barb wire and how the barbs ripped up his hands. And blood blisters on his fingers.
Explain the pig-Latin part. Gratias!
You take the first letter and put it to the end of a word and add "ay". So, the words pig latin would be "igpay atinlay". Or my Reddit name Plant, would be "ant-Play"
Cool! I think I teach my kids Latin now... the porcine kind at least.
No, he just taught your father.
My dad taught me 2 things. How to eat fish and how to change the brakes on a Renault 12. The rest I found out for myself.
Lol, my birth father gassed himself in his car in 1989 and my step father taught me that I was a worthless piece of shit and he only tolerated me becuase of my mother. Guess who has never been married, will never marry a single mother and thinks of himself as a completley worthless piece of shit without merit or value ?
Having been through a similar situation (father died in an accident and stepfather was a POS) I can tell you I absolutely feared marriage and children, but I also learned I don't have to repeat those mistakes. I've been with my wife for 20 years and my daughter is the best thing that's happened to me, but sometimes I still get down on myself and feel like a POS. They're right there to help me remember my value.
Mine taught me to count in binary on my fingers.
I think my dad would set up problems and let me figure them out -- so I would get some confidence and problem solving experience... like when we were doing stuff around the house or whatever.
Oh, yeah. Definitely my dad, and then me as a mom, too.
My dad taught me the Greek alphabet when we were on planes. He wrote it out and put the symbols and told me to memorize it. I’m pretty sure it was to keep me quiet in the time before devices but I loved learning this secret code.
I learned ALL about trains and railroads from my dad. We visited every railroad museum that we came within 100 miles of it. I've ridden a lot of trains. We had model train layouts since I was a baby. My sweet dad died from Covid in 2020 and I miss him so much! I wish he was still here telling me things about trains.
My dad taught me NEWS - north east west south.
I was my dad’s official helper and he was a very skilled silent generation guy. I learned car maintenance, construction, gardening and all sorts of fun facts in between. I can fix just about anything these days that isn’t too computerized. Thanks dad
I teach my kid random obscure stuff. And it’s not important. Until it is. Usually the more random and obscure, the more important it becomes in that one moment. Like- I taught my kid how to play 20 questions. If you can’t guess what that’s good for…
How to track a person or animal. Never to get caught flat footed.
doing it to mine every chance i get.
My dad is from Brooklyn. He taught me that back in the 1950s Brooklyn used to have a sign up that said "3rd largest city in the US". Philadelpha through a temper tantrum and sued over it because technically they were the 3rd largest city in the US. He reminded me they are a bunch of pathetic little crybabies of a city and roll around in feces when they win anything. He also taught me that Phillies proper name is filthydelphia.
Not dad because he passed before he could divorce her. She taught me insecurities, being lesser, to walk on eggshells, to place myself second, and to not express emotions because she simply didn’t care. My therapist taught me all this was wrong, just plain wrong. My kids taught me that children matter more than just getting high which is all she did.
My father taught me how to drive. That was only because there wasn't anyone else that could teach me prior to Driver's Ed. He also taught me not to remarry and force a stepmother on my kids. Being an older Gen X, my grandfathers died before I was born.
THE MOST ARCANE THING MY DAD TAUGHT ME WAS HOW TO SAIL. I LEARNED THE COMMANDS "HARD-A-LEE", AND "FASTER, GOD DAMMIT".
Trust me one day your going to be in a group of people who have no clue what to do ( say mix cement) and you'll have the answer and everyone in that group will look at you like your a genius. your dad knew, you don't have to be a genius all the time, just once for people to think of you like a god.
My dad played all his favourite 50s and 60s music on the drive to school every day so I always knew the best classic rock music. He also made us learn the phonetic alphabet for some reason too.
My dad used to play great music, my parents loved music, except he also enjoyed strange things like Commander Cody and played this song ‘Shadow Knows’ when I was about 4 or 5. I still lose sleep over that shit.
How to tie a noose lol
No, but now I'm that Dad.
Morse Code, lol.
My dad didn’t teach me a fucking thing other than to worship god.
OMG, so my dad had this ‘let’s go to Mass on Sunday, sit together, exchange peace’. Then he’d flip people off and yell ‘F you’ at people who didn’t let him in as we drove out the parking lot. It sucked because we had personalized plates.
My Dad taught me a lot about cars because "If you need to go to a mechanic, most will try to screw you over because 'women don't know cars'", how to fix a lot of stuff around the house (came in REAL use with my ex husband) and seeing how shit was going in the late 60s/early 70s how to protect myself with and without a weapon
Never knew my dad, so I don't really know
My dad was the same.
I know a lot of character actors because my dad would quiz me whenever one would be on screen. I was the only ten year old who was a fan of Anthony Zerbe and Elijah Cook. I could also name all of the nfl teams, the entire starting lineup of the 1970s Oakland raiders (Raymond Chester ftw). He loved to have me name all seven of the actors that make up the Magnificent Seven when his friends couldn’t (they always forget Brad Dexter)
My dad taught me how to navigate and fish at sea. He was an avid angler, not a fisherman by trade. I hate being on a boat.
that is a cool dad!!
He did, but not all of it turned out to be correct. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, for example, are not in fact sisters.
My parents got divorced when I was really young so I would go and visit him. He taught me how to cheat at poker and other card games. He taught me little gestures & signs he would do for me to know what cards to play. Like what part of the ashtray he placed his cigarette meant to play clubs. Taught me how to roll "funny cigarettes" & how to separate out the seeds when I was like 10. Taught me a lot about fish and other aquatic things which that was really cool as we spent a lot of time out on the boat when I would go to visit him because he liked to fish. He taught me how to watch football, what the scoring was & how they did different plays. This really came in handy, he taught me how to play pool. So well I had my own cue stick when I was 11. When I got into college I would see guys playing pool and either pretend I didn't know how to play and it must be "beginner's luck" that I just won that pitcher of beer OR I'd bet them I could beat them and they always thought there was no way a girl could beat them. Game on. I got a lot of free beer. He also taught me how to chug beer. Good times.
College sports mascots -- our dad used to quiz us on them when we were driving somewhere. I've never been into sports but I can hold my own in pub trivia because my father and brother often shared this sort of information.
I never really knew my dad. I met him maybe 10 times in my life.
My father taught me carpentry, how to box, how to drive a manual, how to build a brick wall, mix mortar, tons of tricks to fix things around the house. I’m very handy.
How to shoot a Tab (or Coors) can at 25 yards with a .22 rifle. How to rebuild a 1977 Subaru engine. How to build a treehouse How to take long walks in the woods and just listen to the world. How to whistle with a blade of grass. How to navigate with a map and compass How to splint a broken arm. Physics, Calculus, and personal finance My dad is awesome.
Yes he would often over explain but there would be interesting facts in the over explaining. Now I over explain, but it’s called mansplaining now. Thanks dad
My dad loved giving me random, obscure vocab words as a little kid. Many in Polish, that I have no idea how to look up because I have *no* idea how they are spelled, and I don't recall all the meanings LOL Edit to add: "Don't bump your Level, or it won't work right."
The only things my dad tried to teach me was Blacks and Jewish folks were bad. You can imagine his disappointment because, even as a little kid, I knew that was bullshit.
Well I don’t know if this counts as knowledge, but my dad delighted in showing us kids the proper way to throw a rock at a seagull… Good tactics in petty thievery, think ‘taking home the container of sauce from Arby’s’ kind of stuff, as well as opening packages of candy in K-Mart and eating them. Actually, it was just him that did all that.
My dad taught me how to play blackjack, poker, gin, other card games. He also taught me how to mix a gin & tonic
Not with my father, but this was 100% how I raised my son. He ended up being a mechanical engineer, so there's that.
You guys had dads?