My dad with our son.
Growing up we had a very specific Father's Day tradition.
Every Father's Day, after church, we would blind fold our dad and put him in the car. A Chevy Astro Van. Anyone else have one of those? My mom would drive us around for 45 minutes while we tried to get my dad confused so he didn't know where we were or where we were going. We would make distracting noises, talk to him and give him false clues.
It didn't matter. He always figured it out. We didn't mind.
After the confusing drive we would stop at a park, a different one every year. My dad would guess where we had ended up, take off his blindfold, and we would yell, "Happy Father's Day".
At the park we would meet our closest friends. They had been driving around doing the same thing with their dad, with a twist.
Our friends had 4 boys, all wrestlers. They would take all the seats out of their car and fill it with a mattress, pillows and blankets. As they drove around they would beat their dad up and wrestle him for 45 minutes. Once they got to the park, they would slide their minivan door open and their dad would fall out. There was always blood and they broke his glasses every year. If you ask those boys they would tell you that they liked Father's Day better than Christmas. If you ask the dad, he will tell you he did it for his boys.
Both families would bring food and we always finished the meal with the same Father's Day Cake from Baskin Robbins. You know the one, with the tie? Always chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
We still talk about this tradition today. We laugh with our friends about how fun it was to celebrate the holiday together. My dad always thanks us for not beating him up when he was blindfolded.
Now that our kids are getting a little older I think it is time to dust off the old blindfold.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE FATHER'S DAY MEMORY?
Family Volley
P.S. excuse the photo quality. These are from the archives. Cameras have come a long way.
We had one of thsoe vans. You had to use your leg to slam the door shut. Then we took it to Sea World on a road trip. Shamu splashed us. 100 degree weather and fish smell does not a pleasant ride make. We sold it.
ReplyDeleteFather's and Mother's Day are always too chaotic for me. Because my parents are divorced there are three dads and moms (MIL/FIL included) to visit, not to mention my husband. I wish we could just call everyone else, and we get to stay home. It is hard to have traditions when we're all over the place.
Amanda, I can totally relate to that. When my husband and I were first married our parents both lived in the same city. When we went to visit for holidays it was crazy. Driving back and forth every day more than once. We would come home from our "vacation" exhausted. Our parents didn't so much pressure us, but we felt obligated out of respect. After a few trips we spoke up, did what was best for our little family and started our own traditions. It was soooo hard to do, but I am glad we did. Now our parents live in different states and it is a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteHope this Father's Day is a little less stressful.
My parents live by us now and instead of always going their way, we do our traditions and invite them to our house to be a part. It makes things a lot better.
Oh yes. Get out that blindfold because that tradition is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteCourtney, come in, can I get you something to drink? I hope you can stay and chat for a while. Thanks for stopping by to visit. Come back often, you are always welcome. Always.
ReplyDeleteI came upon this via Cjane. I LOVE this tradition. I have an astro van and now maybe a genius idea for fathers day. THANK-YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the funniest thing I've ever heard (What your friends did). LOVE IT.
ReplyDeleteThat is the craziest tradition I've ever heard of... glad to hear you didn't do that to your father. LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh.