Today's podcast episode is dedicated to all the amazing dads in our lives with Father's Day. This past weekend, I've been thinking a lot about the incredible fathers that I have been able to have in my life, and I wanted to share some lessons I have learned from my four favorite fathers.
The first father is my dad. When I was little, we used to go every Saturday morning on daddy daughter day. The first thing we do is go to the breakfast buffet at JBS Restaurant. My maiden name is Jen Bell, and so those were my initials, so of course JBS was my restaurant. My dad loves to tell the story of how much I used to eat in the breakfast buffet and how it would shock all the waitresses that such a little tiny person could eat so much.
Mostly Captain Crunch and breakfast sausage. But these daddy daughter dates were so special to me and every single week I would look forward to that time that I got to spend with my dad. As I look back on this, one of the lessons that stands out to me is the importance of creating traditions out of ordinary everyday things.
Going out to breakfast on Saturday mornings wasn't extraordinary. We didn't get all dressed up or fancy or anything, and most of the time after we went to breakfast, we ran errands or hit Home Depot or stopped at some yard sales on our way home. But the fact that we made it a priority and we gave it a special name and we could look forward to it every single week.
Made it special and I have carried this lesson with me into my own parenting as I have created lots of family traditions out of ordinary everyday moments. The second father in my life that I wanna share a lesson from is my father-in-law. My husband's dad. My father-in-law is the ultimate example of teaching your children with patience and love.
So many times, early on in our marriage, my father in-law would be over at our house helping my husband with projects that he didn't quite know how to do. My father-in-law would willingly come over and be right alongside my husband as he figured out how to do the things he didn't know how to do, and they would reason and work through it together until they got it done.
When my husband started his doctorate program, we were in the middle of building a garage, and so I had the opportunity. To work right alongside my father-in-law as we finished the siding and roofing of this garage. Now, I knew pretty much nothing about siding or roofing, but my father-in-law was right there with me teaching me everything that I needed to know and being so patient as I figured out how to do this for myself.
I have come to appreciate this skill of my father-in-laws even more as I have tried to teach skills to my own kids. Not only was he so generous with his time, but he was also so patient and kind and loving while doing the project, and he always found ways to use those projects as opportunities to connect and build relationship instead of just working to get the project done.
After I was married and starting a family of my own, my parents got divorced, and a few years later my mom got remarried to my stepdad. My stepdad has taught me so much about showing gratitude and praising people for their efforts. He always makes the biggest deal. Every time I make him food, he goes on and on about how delicious it is and what a great cook I am, and it just makes me feel like a million bucks.
He also points out the little things that we might say or do and how much he appreciates those or how much he admires those things. I have learned from his example the importance of showing gratitude to people you love for the things that they do as especially the things that they're kind of expected to do, the things that they do every single day, that often go unnoticed.
When I apply this in my own parenting, it is a total game changer. Showing appreciation and praising our kids for the everyday things that they do that often go unnoticed, can really improve and change our relationship in meaningful ways. The final father, who I learn from every single day is the father of my children, my husband.
I am sure that I am biased, but I'm convinced that my husband is the world's best dad, and I'm pretty sure that all of my children would agree with me. I tried, but I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing that I wanted to share with you that I've learned from him. So I have two. The first is the importance of looking back and reminiscing together.
My husband loves a good airplay slideshow. Whenever we have friends or family over and visiting, he is constantly doing airplay from his phone to our TV to show off the latest pictures. We all tease him about it, and it's kind of a running joke at our house, but the truth is we all love it. That little trip down memory lane to look back at the memories that we've had together and share the things that we love with each other are so instrumental in building our relationships.
My kids totally look forward to the airplay slideshow after we get home from a trip. And I had to giggle the other night when my daughter AirPlayed her phone to the TV the other night to show us all the pictures from her recent backpacking trip. The other lesson I have learned from my husband is to be the fun parent.
Hands down, all of my kids will tell you. He is the fun one and for good reason because he is always up for doing something fun with our kids. Whether it's jumping in the pool with your clothes on, whether it's staying up late, and I mean late like 2:00 AM doing puzzles in the living room. Or taking the kids to the Dollar store to buy treats for Bingo night.
I don't know why they love the Dollar Store so much, but I am not a big shopper and so I always appreciate that he is willing to take them because they think it's so much fun. I have loved watching his relationship with our kids, grow and develop as I see him, just drop everything else and have fun with our kids.
And it's been a great reminder to me to just let go of all the schedules and everyone needs to be here on this time and at this place, and I'm trying to coordinate it all and I'm trying to get dinner done and check off the things on the list to just drop all of that sometimes and have fun with my kids because those are the things that they remember.
Those are the things that really build our relationship and make those memories that are going to last. I am so thankful for these amazing father figures in my life and for the influence that they have had on me. I am sure that you also have some incredible father figures in your life, and I wanna challenge you this week to think about those fathers and the lessons that you have learned from them, and see if there is something that you can take away that you can apply in your own parenting.
I wanna thank you so much for being here and supporting this podcast and listening every single week. And if you are loving what you hear here, if you are learning something from what I share each week, I would appreciate it so much if you would leave a rating or review on whatever podcast platform you listen on.
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