| George: |
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It’s 5:12, and, of course, as BJ mentioned, Father’s Day a little over a week away, and our next guest this afternoon, David Cunningham, is a communication expert and seminar leader from Landmark Education, a personal and professional growth training and development company. And, David, welcome to the show this afternoon. |
| David Cunningham: |
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Thank you, George. Thank you. Hi, BJ. Hi, George. |
| BJ: |
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Doin’ fantastic. Hope you’re doin’ well this afternoon. |
| George: |
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Yeah. Well, I guess we just wanna know some of the—what dad really wants, and it’s not necessarily anything that you wrap up either. |
| David Cunningham: |
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No. As Father’s Day comes, we look for that right gift. Maybe it’s the tie. Maybe it’s the gadget. Maybe it’s a dinner out, but what we find with the thousands of dads I’ve worked with is what they really want is a simple thank you. They wanna know that they’ve got our respect, our appreciation, and gratitude. So, there’s some really simple things that we can do to make sure our dads know they’re appreciated. |
| BJ: |
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What are some of those simple things, David? |
| David Cunningham: |
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Well, the first thing would be to acknowledge our dads for something specific they’ve done. If ya think carefully, there are some very specific things they’ve done that’ve been really dad things where maybe it was where they were particularly generous or particularly protective or particularly loving. I know my own dad had this way that he whistled that nobody else in the neighborhood could whistle, so whenever it was time for us kids to come in, he would whistle. And we knew we were safe, and home was there. I remember another time he took us camping at Yellowstone Park where it was really tough for him financially to do that. And then, I remember that he got—my first car ever was a convertible, and he made sure my first car ever was a convertible. So, those special things he did, to remember those and then thank him for those very specific things, that leaves a dad really feeling known and appreciated. That’s one. |
| BJ: |
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I like that because you know what? And I tease my husband a lot. I do, and we have one of those relationships where we kinda laugh and tease back and forth. But when it comes right down to it, fathers are really—have become the butt of so many jokes on TV, in the movies. The whole thing is the dumb buffoon dad that everybody makes fun of, and that’s really not fair. |
| David Cunningham: |
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It’s not fair, and just—dads are human too is the point, right? And every human being likes to know that they’ve made a difference for others, contributed some at others. So, when we remember those specific times and really go back and paint a picture of it and reminisce about it with our dads, boy, do they love that. |
| BJ: |
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I’m gonna remember that ‘cause I do tease my dad a lot too. We just have a—he has his moments, so I’m gonna try and think of some really good moments that he had. |
| George: |
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But you know also, being a dad myself, you wanna know—I wanna know that my kids know that I love them. |
| David Cunningham: |
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That’s right, George. We tell our dads, and it’s important to tell our dads that we love them, and that’s very important, but, really, what dads also wanna know—just exactly what you said—that we know they love us ‘cause dads often—a lotta times they don’t get recognized for being loving. They don’t get recognized for the love they have for us. And so, when they know that we notice it and that it matters to us and that it made a difference for us, that really makes a special gift for them. |
| BJ: |
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Is it hard for people to tell dad how they feel though? |
| David Cunningham: |
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Sometimes, but the easiest thing to do is, again, is if you just start acknowledging them for something, and even if you have some resentment or something from the past that kinda gets in the way, you can just put that aside for a minute. And if you find something to thank your dad for – just find one little thing – and acknowledging him really starts having your relationship be present and your appreciation be present. |
| BJ: |
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Do you have a website where people can get advice on what you’re telling them to do? |
| David Cunningham: |
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Sure. They can go to www.LandmarkEducation.com, and they can get the advice there and see the different ideas there. One last idea is making sure that dad knows that he got his job done so that it’s important for dads know—like we let ‘em know that, as far as we’re concerned, we turned out—we’re okay. And when dads know their kids are okay, that’s like a homerun. That’s hitting the ball outta the park for a Father’s Day gift is letting ‘em know we’re okay, and they got their job done. |
| George: |
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So, we can still get ‘em a little gift or maybe take ‘em out for dinner or somethin’ like that, but the main thing is to just let ‘em know you love ‘em and what they mean to you. |
| David Cunningham: |
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That would have Father’s Day be more special than anything they could imagine and anything they expected is that—is people are touched and moved by being acknowledged and appreciated, and our fathers are no exception to that. |
| George: |
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All right. |
| BJ: |
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Well, David, great advice this afternoon. We appreciate you bein’ with us, and that’s a great way for us to kind of almost wrap up our Friday afternoon. |
| George: |
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Yeah. That’s nice. David Cunningham. |
| David Cunningham: |
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Great to be with you. |
| George: |
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Thank you so much for bein’ with us this afternoon. |
| BJ: |
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Take care. |
| George: |
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www.LandmarkEducation.com |
| BJ: |
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Wow. I never thought of doin’ that. Usually, it’s like, “Oh. What am I gonna get for my dad? Not a tie.” |
| George: |
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And it’s kinda simple, really. |
| BJ: |
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Yes, it is. |
| George: |
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It’s 5:18. We’ll continue on WDUN News/Talk 550. |