July 5, 2008

Do you know a new or expectant dad?  There is still time to enter our Rookie Dad Contest.  Just Tell a Friend about JaxParent.com.  Make sure they enter your name in the comments section.  Two winners will be selected randomly to receive their own copy of Rookie Dad.   Winners will be drawn on July 31st.

Read on for an exerpt from the book.

Father's Day Fingerprints
David Jacobsen

"Daddy," whispered my three-year-old, "is it June yet?"

"Yeah, buddy, today's the first day of June."

His eyes widened slightly and he leaned in closer, confiding in me. "Daddy, June is when Father's Day is. And I'm making you a secret Father's Day present at preschool!"

"Oh! I can't wait to find out what it is!" I replied, and, as he began to happily describe it, I had to interrupt him. "Don't tell me now, honey--it'll be a surprise!"

We adults like to think we understand everything better than our kids. They might glimpse the meaning of a holiday, but we see the whole picture. For my son, Father's Day is a time to enjoy giving a homemade craft to dad--and to eat some of dad's favorite dessert, too!

But is that the real meaning of Father's Day? Only we parents know how mind-numbingly repetitive being a parent really is. We know how frustrating it can be to discipline our children and how exhausting it is to clean the kitchen after the kids have gone to bed and all we really want to do is flop on the couch and watch The Colbert Report. Surely recognizing and celebrating this unsung, heroic labor is what Father's Day is really about, right?

Well, partly. It does feel good when another adult gives you a genuine compliment--that's the reason most fathers are given presents by their partner, the one person who really fathoms the behind-the-scenes sacrifices we make every day.

But that's not the whole story. Which present will I remember more, the banana cream pie and day of surfing that my wife gives me, or the picture frame that my son makes me at preschool--the one covered in rainbow tissue paper and smeared with so many gluey fingerprints that the picture is almost impossible to see?

When my kids clean out my house after I die, that picture frame, and dozens of other presents like it, will be shining their love from every room. Long after I've hung up my wetsuit, and long after my doctor has given me strict orders not to eat any more banana cream pie, I'll continue to esteem the Father's Day gifts given to me by my son.

He may not understand everything we do for him--how could he?--but he understands this: Dad loves me, I love him, and it's fun to give each other presents. Maybe that's closer to what Father's Day is all about. Maybe things really are that simple. After all, we don't sign up to be dads for the paycheck--we do it for the benefits package.

David Jacobsen lives in Santa Barbara with his wife and two sons. He is the author of Rookie Dad: Thoughts on First-Time Fatherhood (2007), available from Amazon.com. He can be contacted at www.davidjacobsen.net.