Sunday, August 23, 2009

Daughters And Fathers

Last Thursday, I showed a Public Service Announcement to my students, one of the funniest clips I have ever seen. (The link is below.) You have to watch it to appreciate it but it shows a man being a father to his little girl. We talked about fathers and then I had my students write a paper describing an ideal father. Today, I am sharing some views of the girls. As always, the student quotations are used with permission. Tomorrow, we will look at the thoughts of the boys.


"To me, there is no perfect father, but a real father. My dad is a very gentle man. He is funny, and a bit old-fashioned, but I love him. There is always an honesty that impacts me alot. I miss him. I miss how when I'm sick he came and cared for me. Sometimes he made me so angry, but I'm a teenager, and I can't help it. As Coach Hawley said, I can write about how I expect or want my husband to be a good father. I just need him to be him, and always be there for the kids and myself with encouragements. I hope he can bring out a good image for my kids to look up to. I wouldn't want a smoker."
Jessica, grade 10 (Jessica is from Vietnam, living in Houston)
"A good father is someone who will help you learn how to ride a bike. He will put a band-aid on your knee when it's bleeding. A dad is someone who coaches your elementary soccer team, and helps you learn how to play basketball! A dad is someone who will tell you not to date until your older or when a guy picks you up, he'll ask a million questions. A good dad will cheer you on no matter what you do. A good father will walk you down the aisle and each night before you go to sleep, he'll kiss you goodnight and tuck you in. A good dad will always be there."
Haley, grade 10
"A good father can be described as someone who loves much, but love comes in the form of discipline, when needed. A good father protects his family unconditionally. A good father is a role model. He leads a life of example and walks in the way of the Lord. He loves God more than anything in the world, including his family, in the hope that they will follow his example. A good father doesn't just tell you how to live; he gives an example that his children should follow."
Taylor, grade 10
"To me, my father is the type of father I want him to be. He is responsible, smart, knowledgeable, hard-working, kind, and most important, he loves me deeply. My father cares for me alot; no matter how busy he is with his work, he will call me or write an e-mail to me. He pays lots of attention to me. Every time I say I wanted something, he will buy it for me, no matter how hard to get. My father is a really good role model to me. All his employees give him high compliments, and they respect him a lot. I respect him alot, too, for his uprightness and his hard work. If I have to use an example to describe my father, I would say he is like a tree to my family. He supports and gives shade to my family. My father would be the type of father I want."
Ying, grade 10







"I think a good father is my father. I really think that God blessed me. My dad supports everything I do. He comes to my recitals, helps me with my homework, and when he cooks hamburgers, he always makes sure that I get a turkey burger. (Not a big fan of beef!) I think the best memory I had with my dad was when he took me to a father/daughter dance. He got off work that day just for me. It was sooo much fun. It was funny because my dad is a horrible dancer and would keep me laughing the whole night. I also think a good father is a man who treats his wife like a queen. Like, my dad will randomly bring my mother flowers. I use to ask, "Dad, why do you bring her flowers?" He said, "One day I was fishing and I caught a mermaid; her name was Sandra and she had a flower in her hair. I married that mermaid, and I love to remind her about the first day that we met, by giving her the flowers." At first, I believed my mom was a mermaid, but I caught on a little later."
Jasmine, grade 11
"A good father, to me, is one that will always be there. My father is 70 years old, and yes, I know that's old for a father, but I love him a lot. People ask me, is that your grandfather? Then one day, my abuela (grandmother) said, "Your father is sad, because he thinks that you're embarrassed to be around him, since he's old." Age doesn't matter: my father is the best father. He's a good dad because he is strict. When I look back on what he told me to not do, I realize it was good for me. I realized that no matter how much I'm mad at him for not letting me do something, it was really good for me. This is what I think a good father is. A good father can be any age."
Summer, grade 8

Applicable quote of the day:
"The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, 'Daddy, I need to ask you something,' he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan."
Garrison Keillor

To watch that wonderfyl PSA, click below:

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

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