Dad Always Used To Say ...

There’s a phrase you hear on TV and in the movies that refers to a wonderful Dad thing.

“When I was growing up, my Dad always said...” ...followed by some sort of quote of immeasurable wiseness.

Now that my two are three and one, I’d been hunting for such a phrase. I wanted to be the Dad who always said something that summed up a sensible life lesson.

There was criteria however.

1: It couldn’t be a stolen phrase. That’s not to say that it had to be a collection of words that had never been put together before, I just had to come up with it on my own.

2: Equally, there would be no application of copyright if I came up with something good. Wise words are to be shared.

3: It needed to be strong and meaningful.

4: I also knew that I couldn’t force it. At the right time, the thought would come, and words would follow that my children would always remember and speak fondly of.

Just recently, my family and I were out in the car. You know the drill, Dad is driving because Dad usually always drives. Mum is in the passenger seat and the two kids are in the back. Where we were going wasn’t important, what was important was that at that moment, we were totally and utterly complete. There was plenty of gas in the tank, there was no hurry, and unbelievably, everyone was happy.

It was a perfect moment.

Out onto the motorway we went and Miss Three broke into song. The song was nothing particularly recognisable, the tune was nothing specific, she was just making up words and applying her tune to them.

Then, listening to her happy little voice singing her pretty little song that made no sense to anyone else in the car except for her. My Wise-Old-Dad-Always-Said phrase came to me and I said it for the very first time.

“Sophie,” I said, “No matter what happens in your life, never, ever stop singing.”

By Dave Smart