I have had the privilege to know some exceptional fathers in my life, so today I’d like to share with you the generosity, humor, and kindness of a few special daddies.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a great father (or any father at all), but I know that without these men, our fiercest champions, our lives would be very different. They do their best to stand between us and whatever can hurt us. While there’s no way to prevent every disaster, heal every hurt, or calm every fear, the knowledge that someone is out there always wanting the best for us is its own kind of protection.

This is just a little compilation of fathers doing mostly every-day-type father things with grace and good humor. Wishing a very happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

And because that’s too much sweetness for one day, here’s proof that fathers aren’t perfect (even though they try).

(To be fair, they probably couldn’t answer those questions about their partners either…)