Fathers and Daughters

This afternoon we had our second annual Father Daughter Tea Party at the Library. As I said to the participants, Daddies often get the shaft. Mother's Day is at the end of the school year, when everyone is looking for crafts to keep the kids' attention, so they get all the cute little handprint poems and tissue paper flowers. Mother's Day at church is all about how great Moms are. Father's Day, however, is after school is out, when it's too hot to think, and the Sunday sermon tends to be about how dads need to step it up and get more involved.

None of these Dads need any such sermons.

Couldn't you just melt at the cuteness?

We had a little over 40 Daddies and daughters, which is about all our room can hold.

Many came dressed to the nines - you should have seen the sparkly parasol unfurled! I want it!

There were tasty snacks, and sparkling pink lemonade to be sipped through swirly straws.

We started off with excerpts from Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, by Gregory Lang.

This was a Christmas gift from S. to Daddy last year. Personally, I think a Daddy's primary purpose is to answer the door when boys come knocking, but this has a few additional thoughts - some thought-provoking, some funny, some sobering, all good. A great gift for any time.

Then we read Reading with Dad, by Dick Jorgensen.

I just ran across it this week, and it was perfect. A young woman is looking at a photograph of one of her earliest memories, reading with her father, and goes through a whole lifetime of sharing books and thoughts together. There is a sense of a very warm and close relationship (without being too saccharine-sweet). Another great gift for any father!

After the book, we did a few projects relating to that idea. For one, fathers wrote down some of their special memories of times shared with their daughters, and attached them to long-stemmed roses.

For another project, we had picture frames to decorate.

Sequins and colored stones, of course, make everything better! We also had pink and red boxes to decorate, with paper hearts to write down more memories, or to leave each other notes.

Then we took pictures to go in the frames.

Love those smiles!

Way too much cuteness going on, here.

Yup, four daughters, all cute as a button. If ever a Daddy needed a shotgun...

Did I mention the awesome dresses?

My favorite father-daughter combo:)

And for our big finish!

Thank-you to all the Daddies and daughters who came out. Here's wishing everyone a very happy Father's Day tomorrow, with lots of relaxing time spent with your families!