Dad, Dada, Daddy, Father, Papa...

No matter what you call him, there is always a special place in your heart for your father. In previous generations, it was the responsibility of the mother to raise and nuture the children while the father provided for the family. In latter generations, as more mothers took to the working force, fathers more and more took on the role of nurturing.  However, they still wanted us to be tough and independent. While Kunal and I look back at our upbringing and reminensce on how tough dad and Papa were on each of us, we now start to appreciate what they were trying to do. We both have graduate degrees and are fiercely independent, a lot of it thanks to our fathers who instilled in us wisdom, hard-work, and dedication. And we're proud to say that most of it was through example.

And now Kunal has become a father and is excelling at it.  It's only evident when Nikhil wakes up each morning and calls out for his 'dada' each day. Or when he sees a white SUV like Kunal's, he'll reach towards it, calling out 'dada'. While some days I think Nikhil is a momma's boy, a lot of days it's clear he's a dada's boy.  And who wouldn't be.  Whenever the two of them are together, they have a world of fun whether its kicking a soccer ball around, playing in the swimming pool, or just laughing on the sofa together. At the same time, Kunal is also being the disciplinarian, like his father before him, instilling in Nikhil good manners and behavior. I have a feeling Kunal and Nikhil are going to grow up to be more than father and son.  They're going to grow up being best friends.

Lastly, in honor of father's day, here are some celebrity quotes I've found (some of them a little too true).  Enjoy!

"A new father quickly learns that his child invariably comes to the bathroom at precisely the times when he's in there, as if he needed company." - Bill Cosby

"Man, if I can get a burp out of that little thing I feel such a sense of accomplishment." - Brad Pitt

"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 the old man had learned in seven years." - Mark Twain

"I've always felt sorry for Jesus 'cause you know no matter what he ever did, he could never live up to his father." - Gilbert Gottfried

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong." -Charles Wadsworth

 

Happy Father's Day!