I Know I’m an LDS Daddy When …

… I hear our four-year-old daughter sing the Father’s Day program songs a little bit louder and a little bit flatter than the other kids.

… I sit in tithing settlement and watch the bishop give our six-year-old son a computer printed receipt marked “full tithe payer”—in the amount of 16¢.

… I bless our four-week-old baby, using a microphone, and no one can hear me because she’s louder.

… during family home evening my five-year-old reprimands me for not being reverent because I kissed my wife on the cheek during the opening song.

… I hear our six-year-old in an argument with one of his friends saying, “My dad goes to more meetings than your dad!”

… I find out our seven-year-old daughter had the bishop (who is also her dentist) pull out her loose tooth in the hallway after Sunday School.

… I ask our four-year-old what she learned in Primary today and she proudly announces that she learned that the president of the United States is Spencer W. Kimball.

… our six-year-old bears his testimony on fast Sunday and the first thing he’s thankful for is his dog.

… our Sunday School teacher begins explaining how we should all strive to develop our talents just as our two-year-old climbs up on the bench and begins to play the piano.

… our four-year-old daughter wants to know, since we have a “Book of Mornin’,” if we also have a “Book of Afternoon.”

… I tuck them in bed, and I look at their precious faces, and they say, “I love you, Daddy,” and I realize that we are each other’s forever. Lawrence Heywood, Covina, California

Illustrated by Phyllis Luch