Dotty Dads

[Philski]

Over the past year or so I have been spending a lot of time with my parents - more than I have since I was about 10 years old, actually. Whilst my mother (72) is as sharp as ever, my dear old dad (78) is becoming progressively more eccentric, reinforced by the fact that he doesn't really give much of a toss about what other people think.

I could probably write a short book about some of his 'things', but this one always makes me chuckle (although their drive is on a bit of a slope, there's nothing at all wrong with the car's handbrake or park mode):

One of his other inexplicable oddities is his new and unusual pronunciation of certain words. For instance, he refuses to pronounce pizza as 'peetser', rather as 'pitser'. If you ask him to explain, he'll say that the Italian word pizzicato (which is a playing style of stringed instruments) is pronounced 'pitzacato'. He is unshakeable in his conviction that he is correct about this.

Father's Day approaches, so let's celebrate our fathers' eccentricities! (Apologies to those who have lost their dads already...)

[HarveyBoulevard]

Cheers to Dads!!! I am writing him a letter as we speak as he has enough stuff and doesn't want anyone to get him anything anymore.

If that is a rope/line from the interior of the car to the 'hill break' that can be pulled to dislodge the break whilst sitting in the car...color me impressed. Very creative. Now he just needs a stick to put the wedge back INTO place whilst sitting in the car. Then I will be ultra impressed.

[ptrthgr8]

"Peetser?" That's how you people pronounce pizza? "Peetsa." We're talking (writing?) about the same thing right?

Silly accents are silly. LOL

[Jeremy Festa]

Over the past year or so I have been spending a lot of time with my parents - more than I have since I was about 10 years old, actually. Whilst my mother (72) is as sharp as ever, my dear old dad (78) is becoming progressively more eccentric, reinforced by the fact that he doesn't really give much of a toss about what other people think.

I could probably write a short book about some of his 'things', but this one always makes me chuckle (although their drive is on a bit of a slope, there's nothing at all wrong with the car's handbrake or park mode):

One of his other inexplicable oddities is his new and unusual pronunciation of certain words. For instance, he refuses to pronounce pizza as 'peetser', rather as 'pitser'. If you ask him to explain, he'll say that the Italian word pizzicato (which is a playing style of stringed instruments) is pronounced 'pitzacato'. He is unshakeable in his conviction that he is correct about this.

Father's Day approaches, so let's celebrate our fathers' eccentricities! (Apologies to those who have lost their dads already...)

Priceless story. I totally relate.

From my mobile phone

[perkinke]

My dad is kind of that way too. For instance, when they were replacing their wood deck a couple of years ago instead of taking the screws out of one of the braces attached to the house and taking the whole beam out he decided to cut it away, using a chainsaw, and started from underneath and ended up cutting into their sliding glass door! In his defense, it worked, just a little too well! (Anyone remember Tim Allen's show "Home Improvement"? Could have been based on my dad.) But then again, he has made about half the furniture I have in my house and I've had it for almost 20 years now, and the deck he rebuilt is beautiful so the results are always excellent, sometimes seemingly in spite of the methods.

I have always wondered if he really is just a little off or if it is a clever strategy to avoid being put in a nursing home at any point in the future. I can just imagine the conversation: "Hey, your dad just said/did XXXXX, does he have dementia or need more care?" Me: "Huh? Oh, no, he's always been like that."