My daughter actually thanked me for insisting on her not being so serious and do silly stuff, while her mom, typical Chinese Tiger Mom, was always pressuring her to excel on everything. She told me one day that hadn't I make her do all these silly things, like talk to each other improvising songs like a broadway musical, or imitating Monty Python silly walks at random moments, she believes she would "have blown a fuse." She's currently getting her PhD in Biology at MIT.

I took my daughter to work with me....Handyman, construction, plumbing, electrical, re-model...that was 20, 25,years ago... she called awhile back...said she wanted to thank me for all I had taught her to do. Said it she had been talking to one of her friends. That had expressed admiration for her that she didn't have to depend on a man to do things for her. Had to laugh. Felt good...

My boys thanked me for all we did together while they growing up and still do

They never did out thank me but my son did it with a phone call on a Friday night, "Uh, dad, I've had to much to drink, could you come get me?" I did and he never did it again.

My children thank me for being there for them all the time, for being generous both with my time and money. They thank me for bringing them up to be independent and self sufficient.

My oldest boy came to live with me at 10 yrs old...the divorce was rough on him and it took everything I had to raise him in a stable home...there were many obstacles we faced but I anchored us in one spot even though it wasn't where we wanted to be...after he graduated HS he thanked me for giving him a stable home...he told me he finally understood why I kept us there...it was HOME...be it ever so humble.

My wife, acting on the suggestion of the bishop, took the children and disappeared when I wised up and left the Moron (oops, Mormon) church. Later, I was served with divorce papers. The children were only toddlers at the time. They are adults now, but they wish to have no contact with me. The Morons claim to be family oriented, but they destroyed my family.

My daughter would thank me for giving her life and just being strong and being there for her when the going got tough. She always likes my hugs and said she will miss that most of all when I am gone.

My daughter thanked me for encouraging her, complimenting her frequently. She thanked me for supporting her and standing by her. She also thanked me for putting my children, her brother and her, before anyone or anything else when they didn't live with me.

I'm still waiting, although my youngest tells me I'm the best mom, ever. And it's not only when she needs something.

In my experience, kids tend to remember things you don't think were that significant and to not register things you thought were important.

My daughter can never say enough about a business trip I took her along on when she was maybe 15 and I was still Cool Dad. I taught her about what I was doing, how to write and present a business proposal, things like that. I think she felt special and taken care of. In other words what "stuck" was her subjective emotional response at the time. I'm guessing it was also a bit of an escape from her pesky little brother and the mundane everyday existence.

On the other hand the endless (and ultimately thankless) hours I spent helping her with her mental block on long division ... that was just me haranguing her. That was an unpleasant experience with a negative emotional bias. So was the six months we spent in a temporary trailer waiting for the construction of our home to be finished ... she came down with pneumonia that winter so it must have been the squalor we were (not!) living in.

So it goes with kids. It's not the rainbows and unicorns people claim it is sometimes. And when it is sweetness and light, it seems to me at least a bit random and I don't know what to attribute it to when things "click".

Every year on his birthday, my youngest thanks me for not aborting him

My daughter thanks me at random times for being there for her even when she didn't deserve it (her words).

I always wanted a lot of kids but it didn’t pan out that way, so I have one biological daughter. But I have three daughters of my heart, who are all “sisters” my daughter brought into our family in third grade. One has a verbally and physically abusive mother, and she has lived with us from a weekend through months at a time all through college. Countless times a year she was chased from her home and would call me in hysterics (once, in winter, without even shoes), and the girls were wide-eyed and agog in the backseat as I calmed her and brought her “home” with us. It was hard for me because I don’t handle aggression well, so having a crazy woman wildly screaming at me on my doorstep was ... very hard. But the girls were watching, and I love her, and she knew I would be there at any time, day or night, to be her shield.

After we went out one night a few weeks ago, she was reminiscing, and broke down, saying she sees people she went to school with who are into drugs and drinking, or went into foster care or something, and she knows that’s where she’d be if it wasn’t for me. It was a tearful night, but it was very touching, and reaffirmed I’d done the right thing. It felt really good. She's working, and will be starting on her PhD soon.

Well my Joseph is only 15. But he did thank me for being fair and always listening to his side of the story. He may not be an adult, but he is a sturdy almost young man

Not giving up.

My eldest daughter said that she learned more about effective teaching from me than she did from a university teacher education program. At that time I was heading up a multidistrict staff development center focusing on improving teaching. and leadership.

Paying for their college education (2 graduate and an associates degree)......

I was initially going to make a goofy comment like "in my mind they thank me for not making them in the first place," which I just did anyway, sorry.

But your back and forth with your daughter was something I have to admit I occasionally feel like I have missed out.

Having kids isn't for everyone, but when I see good people doing a great job of it, I'm grateful as a human that you had the guts to have kids.

I have been thanked for working hard to keep them fed, housed and comfortable. I have been thanked for not indoctrinating them into any religion. One of them even thanked me for divorcing his dad.

For having their back, no matter what.

For earnestly seeking their input and opinions about things (rather than dictating).

For listening attentively.

For letting them share THEIR fave music, movies, shows, books with me, being genuinely interested.

For taking them to concerts by their fave artists, even if a flight or road trip away.

For not freaking out about sweating, porn... etc.

For explaining why when I say no. Not just "because I said so".

For not forcing them to give up their only sleep in day to go to church. (:

My children witnessed a lot of abuse, and were abused by my situation with my wife.. I was often humiliated in front of them, accused of cheating, lying, and physically attacked, and I often slapped back..I never lost it.. I never just beat my wife..
I had to stay.. My honor meant too much to me, but I loved my children, and committed to doing everything necessary to be as good a father as I could be.. I felt so alone, and I was never cut out to be a father..
In defense of my wife, she grew up with violence, was raped as a child, felt abandoned by her real father, and we also lost our son, our first child, and she had endometriosis that made her absolutely crazy for a long period..
I asked my girls if I should have left... It meant so much for me to be there for them, and I felt so often that I was teaching them to accept abuse, and otherwise not doing them the good they needed.. They both said they were glad I stayed.. Understand that my wife even on a bad day was so much more emotionally in tune that I am.. I didn't think I could be a parent without her help, and that help was too often not there.. I needed love too; and crazy, insecure, grieving people have no love to give.. They, we both were in survival mode long after our son died... But; my daughters could see my wife through her treatment of me, and they were glad that her abuse was landing on me because they wanted no part of it.. They knew I loved them.. They knew their mother was wrong, and they loved her too.. We were all trapped, and it hurt to hang fire, and I just wanted to run and hide under a rock... It was good to know that for them, I made the right choice

I had a home cooked turkey curry this evening. Delicious!
Last night I made "Githeri" with added spinach. It's another dish I love, which is accidentally vegan.
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I never "pig out" on meat, but I certainly don't avoid it!
My children thank me for telling them to "Listen to your body".

I believe most children including myself realize the gifts that you give them come out as they struggle with raising their own families often time after we're gone and they have a chance to reflect. That said both boys appreciate our more strict guidelines and largely just explaining and discussing why something was wrong. They're in their forties now and we're a close family to this day.

I can't be thanked for being there because often I wasn't. My 2 daughters lived with me in the 80's and I look at them today and they both do many things we did in those years. Yes, it's things they learned from me but I think they are stuck in the 80's. Me? I'm not good at time travel and I wonder where all the years went. Some days I wake up and my mind says "my god I can't believe this." What the hell happened?