I got this off an FB page, and reading through got me to reminiscing. Evidently, whoever wrote this was thinking about Ward Cleaver or Ozzie Nelson. This isn't the way things worked when I was growing up.
I was raised on a horse farm. My parents had palomino show horses when I was growing up, and I learned how to ride. I never liked it. We had ten to fifteen horses, and guess who got to take care of them - yours truly, that's who. I cleaned stalls, fed and watered them, and was the chief hot walker (see the expression rode hard and put away wet). I also hauled sand and gravel in a wheelbarrow, chopped wood, did any number of odd jobs and chores. This ten point meme got on my very last nerve, and inspired a reality check. I don't know who had a father like the one described above, but I sure as hell didn't.
My reality is below the fold.
1. He has to ensure there is enough money.
No question about that one. Dad always told me that we were poor. We weren't, but that's what he said. He also told me that his parents (my grandparents, who lived about one thousand feet from us) were rich, which they sort of were.
There was plenty of money at our house. It came in the front door, went out the back, and landed in the stable.
2. You are more important than his work.
He never said that and never thought it. I was never more important than his work or his stable full of horses, or anything else for that matter.
3. He wants to be like Superman.
He didn't. Superman was a fantasy, and he lived in reality. What he really wanted was to be a fiendishly wealthy landowner in the antebellum South.
4. He really wanted to fulfill all his promises to you.
He never made any promises to me, or to anyone else for that matter.
5. He is tired.
He never made any secret about that. At the end of the day, he was tired and refused to do anything else, ever. Except drink six martinis, eat dinner, and watch TV. And, if there was any work to do, he would delegate it to someone else.
6. It broke his heart when he can't buy you that toy.
What a laugh! He'd just say No, we can't afford it, and that was the end of it.
7. He wants you to work hard in life.
I was reminded of this four or five times a day, especially when it came to the harder jobs. Shoveling the walks, including my grandparents' myriad sidewalks, which caused me to have an asthma attack. Any work at the stable automatically fell to me, and the reward for work was - more work.
8. He wants you to be better than him.
What he really wanted was for me to be enthusiastic slave labor, then disappear when I was not needed.
9. He would do it all again.
He wouldn't. He'd get a vasectomy at age twenty-one and call it the smartest move of his life. He'd know which stocks to buy and which to short and when, and he'd hire Mexican day laborers.
10. He really loves you.
He never did. Not only did he never lie to me and tell me he loved me, he never did love me. He didn't even like me. I was a money pit.
And that was how it was.
4 comments:
While I can't go along with everything in the meme, my life was by no means the shitstorm yours was. I'd say my dad hit on probably 2, 3, 5, 7 (had a funny way of showing it), 8, and definitely 10.
My dad never complained about being poor and for the most part never felt poor as long as he had his family, we would be short of cash a lot but we managed.
He use to get up to have breakie with us just so he could see his kids as he would often be at work by the time we got home from school and could be gone 3 days.
He never complained about being tired but I as sure he was at times.
What he wanted most for his kids was to be happy with our life.
Sorry to hear that Jack. My family is messed up too. When they act up I dunno how to handle it so I flip the bird and walk away. In my case my dad’s the only one of those assholes worth a pinch of salt.
CW: You are blessed with a wonderful father, and likely a wonderful mother to go along with him.
Glen: Dealing with a family when you're stuck being a child is one thing. As an adult, my father finally got on my very last nerve and my temper snapped. I put him in his place and called it a job well done. Both parents are on the shady side of the lawn now, so I suppose it doesn't matter much. I still have an aunt and uncle that are resting against the fence in Left field, so just imagine where that goes. I gave up calling them when they stopped answering the phone and returning my calls. My cousin has her hands full, and I give her all the help I can.
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