Dad Tasks.

My parents were in town for the past few days. My mom is always easy to make happy when she visits. All she needs is a few reservations at interesting new restaurants. And, the occasional shopping trip, pedicure or theater ticket. My mom is a city mouse who lives in what I uncharitably like to describe as a cowtown.

My dad, on the other hand, is a country mouse. He would never want to live in Chicago. For one thing, he would have a really hard time finding parking for his truck. (He drives a gigantic F350 diesel. He wanted a dually -- the double back wheel version of a truck -- but my mom put her foot down as she didn't see what my dad, a pharmacist by training, would need to haul to justify that kind of truck.) He just doesn't like the traffic and the amount of people so close to each other. His ideal home has double digit acres, not double digit floors.

But, this trip was easy to keep dad occupied. I just put him to work. While I can handle the basics, I just had a lot of dad-tasks related to my new place. I needed him to teach me how to install propane in my grill (I was afraid I'd mess it up and blow myself up). I needed him to put a wire on the back of a mirror and help me hang it. He made up his own tasks of basic maintanence that I didn't even know needed to be done. He taught me about the magic of WD-40. Basically, he did a lot of good dad-tasks. Thankfully, this stuff is easy for him and he likes doing it. And, my dad likes my new place much better than the old one. He found my new neighborhood and treehouse of a condo to be a nice little respite from the noise of the city.

Rest assured, my Father's Day present to him was not giving him a bunch of work to do. I did get him actual gift too.