Super dads

On a recent Sunday morning, I awoke to the happy screams of my 4- and 5-year-old daughters. They were taking part in a chemistry lesson in our kitchen. Their experiment? Making “underwater fireworks” with oil, water, and food coloring in a jar. In the role of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” was my husband–their daddy.

Not long before, my daughter had been gifted a 30-piece chemistry set for her birthday. When she tore open the wrapping, I recall thinking it was a generous gift but maybe too ambitious for my preschooler. Enter Daddy. He was thrilled to introduce them to their own personal chem lab, the girls gleefully jumping as the jar shimmered with every color of the rainbow.

Their daddy reminds me of someone–my own father, my daughters’ “Papa.” When my sister and I were growing up, my dad, too, was always up for a creative daddy-daughter adventure. I remember science experiments, such as testing my hometown’s water against bottled water to see which was cleaner (surprisingly, our city’s tap emerged superior). And there were adventure walks and scavenger hunts that he had designed just for us.

My dad and my husband, as well as my two menschy grandfathers, aleihem hashalom

, are and were hands on, and ever-present in the lives of their children.

Every June, when I pick out Father’s Day greeting cards for these men, I’m disappointed by the selection. The choices often depict a cartoon of a dad parked in his La-Z-Boy chair drinking beer in front of the TV…or an aloof dad, removed from the action of his household, who would “rather be golfing.” The dads in my life are neither sluggish nor stand-offish so those cards don’t resonate.

In fact, that stereotype doesn’t fit the bill for so many of the wonderful fathers and father-like figures I know. Rather, another one word comes to mind.

Hineni.

The Hebrew word, mentioned 178 times in the Torah, translates to the phrase “Here I am.”  But the word means so much more than merely showing up. In fact, the word signifies a profound spiritual readiness, a presence of the soul. The word describes to a T the dads that I’ve been lucky enough to have present in my life.

In the last couple of decades, the media, and society in general, has made up for lost time in lauding super moms for their tireless work-for not just showing up, but for sacrificing, for doing anything and everything, for our children–and rightfully so!

But I’ve noticed that narrative, by contrast, sometimes overlooks and underappreciates the wonderful fathers-super dads-who are present in so many beautiful ways for their children and the other loved ones in their lives.

So here’s to all the daddies, papas, and other father-like figures who show up as we grow up-by saying Hineni in so many beautiful ways. Happy Father’s Day!