First with Stephen R. Covey and Rebecca Merrill. While showing up is good, events are not a substitute for the thousands of little interactions that take place between events. Life is what happens between events. And, to some extent, it does. They fit in, just like a meeting or appointment at work.
Attendance can show love and support.
But if we don't schedule time to just 'be there,' we end up teaching that it takes an 'event' to get Dad's attention. Some things just cannot be scheduled. Merrill cautions us that treating family members as 'one more thing' to get into the day will never produce the level of love and trust necessary for communication and influence during times of stress and trial. On the job we excuse ourselves for being short, over efficient and dictatorial because 'business is business' and, worst case, people will just go somewhere else. Decide together what you are going to do during that time.