Today my Dad turns 60. And although I’ve been slaving away on the piano learning ‘Happy Birthday’ so I could play it just for him, he’s not here. He’s somewhere in Namibia, cavorting with lions and hippos and eating a biltong flavoured birthday cake.
Since he’s not here in Australia for us to celebrate this milestone together, I’ve instead been sitting at my computer reading the Daily Mail reflecting on some of his Dad-ism’s and things he says and does that make me laugh. Here’s a small sample:
- ‘Hmmmm?’ (eyebrows raised, quizzical look)
- ‘Gosh I’m unlucky’ (click of tongue, shaking head)
- ‘Heh heh heh heh heh’ (several small nods of the head)
1. 'Hmmmmm?'
My Dad doesn’t say a lot. I’m not sure if he was always like this, or if it only really started when his first daughter was born when he was only 23 years old. By the time his third daughter arrived four years later, I’m guessing that he realised that he was going to have trouble getting a word in for…..ohhhh….about the next 50 years.
 |
| Dad and his girls (circa 1980). Yes, that's me picking my nose. |
After nearly 40 years of not being able to get a word in, the trouble is that you tend to tune out a bit and therefore you’re not always totally on the ball on the listening front. Hence Dad saying ‘Hmmmm?’ a lot when a question is actually addressed to him. ‘Hmmmmm?’ is usually followed by Mum going ‘Bill!’ (slight shake of head).
The thing about having a Dad who doesn’t say a lot is that when he does speak, you listen. Well, most of the time anyway. I have two specific memories of times I have thankfully ignored him – first when he wanted me to continue studying Japanese through to Grade 12 (when the only language I have half-an-ear for is English) and secondly when he wanted me to put accounting down as my first preference for University.
I should have also ignored him when he suggested a couple of years ago that I take out an investment loan to buy some shares. Unfortunately that time I didn’t, although apparently ‘they’ll come good in the end’ which may well be true. I just might be dead by the time it actually happens.
2. ‘Gosh I’m unlucky’
This is a standard dinner time expression used by my Dad. Usually muttered while trying to wipe mashed potato/gravy/something-certain-to-stain off his cream chinos at the same time as subtly pushing his chair closer to the table so his claim about being unlucky is not overshadowed by the fact that he was sitting about five-foot away from the table when he attempted to get his fork into his mouth. This is also usually followed by Mum going ‘Bill!’ (slight shake of head).
3. ‘Heh heh heh heh heh’
I’m sure he’ll try to deny this, but my Dad has a Dad laugh. I think there’s a strong correlation between the Dad laugh and the not-always-listening mentioned earlier. This is the laugh Dad sometimes pulls out when everyone else is laughing but he has no idea what anyone actually said.
Or maybe we’re just not funny. I prefer to think of it as the first option though.
I love Dad’s Dad laugh. Just hearing it makes me laugh too. Except for the time when I got a letter sent home from school when I was in Grade 11 to inform my parents that I had been caught ‘fraternising with St Laurence’s boys’ over the back fence at lunch time. I was seriously scared of what Dad was going to say. When he got home from work, I burst into tears (refer previous post) when I saw him. But Dad just opened the letter and did a Dad laugh before telling me not to worry about it, patting me briefly on the shoulder, and then hot-footing it away from my blubbering as fast as possible.
To this day I still believe he did the Dad laugh because of the word fraternising. I mean, who uses that? Especially when talking about fifteen-year-old girls with zero self-confidence wearing highly unflattering lime green dresses that were clearly designed by a tent manufacturer in the early-1960's. I think the only thing I was actively trying to do with the opposite sex that day was avoid eye contact.
Hmmm. Twenty years on and not much has changed.
Anyway, I could go on. Instead, I'll just say HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY DAD! Wherever you are, I hope that the Dad laugh is getting a good, solid work out. I can't wait to hear it again! x
 |
| Me and Dad in the early days of the Dad laugh. |
