6 Things Your Dad Needs To Hear

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

Being a father, we assume, is no simple feat. Fathers feel the weight of their family’s needs and desires, the weight of their responsibility to provide and protect, the weight of setting an admirable example of a man, husband, and father for their children.

And yet, it’s so easy for us to forget that our fathers need affirmation from us, to totally overlook this desire, assuming he wouldn’t want to get too sentimental. But even the least touchy-feely, most stoic of dads could do with sweet, encouraging words from their kids — especially on Father’s Day.

Here are 6 things your dad would probably love to hear you say.

01 | “You had good advice about that.”

We certainly remember being teenagers and discarding any advice our dad tried to bestow upon us, seeing him as totally out-of-touch with our world. And then, as we grew up, we started noticing that our dad actually had a lot of good life advice, more than we ever verbally gave him credit for.

Even if it’s been a while since he’s tried to offer life advice, it would mean the world to him if he knew that his words actually ended up helping us. Knowing that he was able to impart some wisdom to us, and hearing us express that, will help him feel appreciated.

02 | “I appreciate all that you’ve given me.”

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes of our parent’s lives that we were never privy to as children. Our parents probably did their best to keep us unaware of their struggles, whether financial, relational, or anything else. On top of all that, our dad was doing everything he could to provide and protect us, giving us food to eat and a roof over our heads.

It’s easy to take these things for granted. But we have to recognize the sacrifices our father made in order to give us even what we think of as the “basics” and the things he gave us well beyond the basics. Fathers long to know that all their dedication and hard work over the years didn’t go unnoticed.

03 | “One of my favorite memories of you is…”

Even if we aren’t the closest with our dad, we probably have at least one or two memories of him that makes us smile — maybe he used to play hide and seek with us when we were little, or maybe he taught us how to ride a bike one summer.

Try to come up with a memory that he probably hasn’t thought of in years; take him back to those days and make him smile. Few things will bring us closer together than walking down memory lane.

04 | “You taught me so much.”

Even the most “prepared” parents end up feeling like they’re guessing much of the way through raising us. Our dad hoped to set a good example for us and knew it was up to him to give us an image of a good man, or teach us how to drive, or give us an understanding of how the stock market works.

He needs to know that we learned something from him; that those hours and days and years he spent investing in us were fruitful and helpful to us. This knowledge is a greater gift to him than any expensive present we’ll give to him.

05 | “Thank you for the way you treat mom.”

Our parents’ marriage is the first image of marriage we have — so hopefully, our father made a point of treating our mother with respect, painting a picture of their affection and loyalty towards one another with each interaction.

Thank him for the way he treated her — because it undoubtedly influenced the way we interacted with our relationships later in life.

06 | I’m glad you’re my dad.

We’ve all got our insecurities — and our parents are insecure, too. They want to know that we were glad to have them specifically, and not someone else’s dad.

Let him know what a gift it was to have him as our dad, to learn from him, to know him, to receive his love. As much as we want to know he’s happy to have us, he wants to know we’re happy to have him.