As much as I'd like to be, I'm not the type of father who plays cars with his children on the floor, or who goes to long walks with them, or who pushes their swing on the playground to fly higher and higher. I'm not the father who teaches his sons to play ball and who takes his daughters to father-daughter dances. I'm not the father who plays catch with his children or who tosses the baby up in the air to make him giggle.
It's mostly my own physical limitations that prevent me from doing so. I can't easily get down to the floor, I can't kneel, I can't walk long distances, I definitely can't run. I wouldn't dream of tossing a baby in the air, no way. But then the kids have Kevin for that.
I'm the kind of dad that spends hours with his daughter by the piano, teaching her the basics, because she suddenly realized she wanted to learn to play. I'm the father who will explain entropy and how the Universe could have began and could end to my 8-year-old. I'm the one that reads Shakespeare with his 12-year-old and lets him discover the layers of the Tempest. I'm the one that teaches his daughters to recite the blessings and light the Shabbat candles, and at the same time I'm the one who only does something he is passionate about, and doesn't really feel like convincing his son to do English homework... but is happy to help. I'm the parent who takes his 12-year-old kid to a late night pop concert on a school night, who lets his kids eat bread and butter dunked in white sugar, who lets his kids watch TV with the adults. And I'm the dad whose collectible action figures are all over the playroom floor where Captain Kirk is substituted to Ken more often than not.
And I'm the dad who is rewarded with a comment by his son that his birthday wouldn't have been as much fun if I hadn't gone to his school and have Pepsi floats with them, and could we please do that again?
I might not be able to show them the sensation of the wind on their face as we ride a bike, but I can show them the Universe. I might not be able to teach them how to climb a tree, but I can teach them to enjoy and protect the nature around them. I may not be able to play soccer with them, but I can help them be passionate about life. Because I'm fire. I'm the wave of the sea. I'm the wind that lifts the leaf, dancing on the surface of the lake.
The video above is by Ran Danker (yay!), titled Ani Esh, I'm fire. Nothing really to do with my post.
