Fathers are a beacon of light
~Unknown
I’ve always known that having a good father is important. However more and more I realize how essential having a good father is for an easier adulthood. Friends who didn’t have a father or have “father issues” continue to search for what’s missing in their lives.
I’m very thankful that I have my own wonderful father who has always treasured me. And I have an incredible husband who shows my three boys what it is to be a great Dad and husband!
Great fathers:
• Give Protection – by making a safe home and being there through thick and thin.
• Give Support – whether it’s financial or emotional.
• Teach self confidence – Self confidence is taught by treasuring your children and by showing them the respect you want them to show you.
• Treat Mom like a queen – This helps children to see how to be a great spouse someday.
• Are there for their children – Think of the Harry Chapin song. You need to be there! Quantity time is more important than quality time.
• Are funny! – I grew up with a very humorous dad and then married a very humorous husband. Being a fun dad helps to make life fun, too!
My father and me
Here’s are some great quotes that help to define what it is to be a great dad!
Fathers need to teach their kids to ride bikes:
“The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard.”
~Sloan Wilson
Father’s need to have tough skins:
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”
~Author unknown (Possibly Mark Twain)
“Discipline doesn’t break a child’s spirit half as often as the lack of it breaks a parent’s heart.”
~Anonymous
Father’s need to understand their children go through stages, sometimes not good ones:
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”
~Charles Wadsworth
“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”
~William Shakespeare
Father’s need to gently discipline:
“A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be.”
~Carol Coats
“When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.”
~The Talmud
John and the boys in Costa Rica
Father’s need to learn to be fathers:
“Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers and fathering is a very important stage in their development.”
~David Gottesman
“The guys who fear becoming fathers don’t understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child raising is not the child but the parent.”
~Frank Pittman
“Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough.”
~Wilhelm Busch
Father’s need to know when it’s time to let go:
“How true Daddy’s words were when he said: ‘All children must look after their own upbringing.’ Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
~Anne Frank
“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.”
~Hodding Carter, Jr.
Father’s need to treat mother’s with respect:
“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”
~Henry Ward Beecher
Father’s need to lead by example:
“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
~Clarence B. Kelland
“Character is largely caught, and the father and the home should be the great sources of character infection.”
~Frank H. Cheley
Father’s need to have a good sense of humor:
“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.”
~ Harry S. Truman
Father’s need to have unconditional love:
“A parent’s love is whole no matter how many times divided.”
~Robert Brault
Thanks, Dad and John, for being great fathers. Thank you for the humor, the unconditional love and for teaching me, and my boys, to ride a bike! 
Hi Betsy,
What an inspiring post for Father’s Day! Your dad and husband look like they are quite fun and how important is that! It makes life so much more joyful. Love the quotes and glad you have such great memories of a wonderful father!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:29 am
Thank you, Cathy! They are quite fun and do make life great! Glad you loved the quotes, too. I loved your father’s day post! Lots of great points, especially for new fathers.
[Reply]
awwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!! love love love! I ADORE that pic with the towels on the heads, lol. Makes me smile. Happy Fathers Day to ZenPapa!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:49 am
Thank you Sheila! That’s our favorite picture of John and the boys!! I will tell the Zen Papa you said, Happy Father’s Day. Hope your husband has a great one, too!
[Reply]
Very sweet!
Loved the post!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:29 am
Thank you Vidya! So glad you enjoyed!!
[Reply]
Lovely post! I didn’t have a great relationship with my own father, but the father of my children is the best!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:32 am
Thank you, Carolyn! Glad your husband is the father you didn’t have. Thanks for the comment!
[Reply]
Thanks for the nice tribute, dear daughter Betsy.
Your mom and I are very proud of you as an endearing child,
responsible adult, perfect zen-mama, and talented author.
Much much unconditional love,
Dad
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:33 am
Thank you, Dad, for everything!! I did grow up feeling treasured. That’s the greatest gift you can give a child.
Love you, too,
Betsy
[Reply]
This was a beautiful post and makes me think of my father that I love oh so much. He has always been there for me through thick and thin. He is already thinking about what he is going to do for fathers day!
Best Wishes,
William Veasley
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:36 am
William,
So glad you enjoyed the post. Sounds like you have a wonderful father!! I’m curious now what you’ll end up for doing for Father’s Day! Thanks for stopping by Zen Mama!!
[Reply]
Aww, love your Dad’s comment Betsy. And your post warms the cockles of my heart ~ I know, a weird expression from the other side of the pond. Love the quotes on Dad’s too – just made me smile.
Elle
xoxo
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:43 am
Thanks Elle! He loves reading my posts. This one was a total surprise for him. So glad you enjoyed the quotes, too!
PS Love the expression, “warms the cockles of my heart”. And I actually do say that expression!
[Reply]
I LOVE this!!!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:45 am
Thanks Lisa! So glad you enjoyed!! Just had a look at your blog and love the look!
[Reply]
Wonderful Betsy!
Love, love, love the photos.
Happy Father’s Day to your dad and husband.
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 8:46 am
Thank you Angela! Always fun to see the real life of the people we write back and forth to, isn’t it? Loved your Father’s Day post by the way! Very important to look at Father’s Day from everyone’s point of view.
[Reply]
Love this post, Betsy. Some fabulous quotes, too. Happy Father’s Day to your husband and your Dad.
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 16th, 2012 at 6:44 am
Yay! You’re all caught up!!
Happy Father’s Day to your husband, too! I know it will be a good one for you!
[Reply]
Hi Betsy,
I loved this post. It made me think of my dad and all he has done for us. I’m definitely ready for Father’s Day tomorrow!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 18th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Thanks Hiten! So glad you enjoyed! Hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day!
[Reply]
Great post. I absolutely love the quotes.
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 18th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Thanks Christie! So glad you enjoyed the post and the quotes!
[Reply]
Pingback: 6 Positive tools to go from Super Sad to Super Duper Glad | *Positive Provocations*
I’m enjoying all the lovely tributes to dads today!
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 18th, 2012 at 10:03 am
So glad you enjoyed Galen! I read some great ones, too.
[Reply]
A very inspiring Father’s Day post, Betsy. Love the quotes, as usual. And you are so right about the Harry Chapin song – I think about that a lot. it’s so true.
[Reply]
Betsy Reply:
June 18th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Thank you Missy! Glad you enjoyed. I always have that song in my head when I think about fathers and the time they spend with their kids. Harry Chapin probably made some great dads from our generation!
[Reply]