Many children see nothing of their dads except in the morning and at night, juggling a schedule of work and school. Weekends can be just as busy. But it's different for some Indianapolis children and their dads, who are members of Foolish Fathers.

Imagine a day of doing nothing but having fun. That is the idea behind Foolish Fathers, founded in 1972 by seven dads who almost called the organization Mass Confusion or LSD (Love Your Sons and Daughters). Members are called "fools." Instead of a president, there's a "head fool."

"Part of the genesis of it was some moms telling the dads, 'Go spend some more time with your kids. Get to know them a little bit more. Get off the golf course on Saturdays,' " said current Head Fool Jim Lootens, father of three.

Y-Press interviewed Lootens; two of his children, Anne, 11, and Amy, 7; member Dave Tucker and daughter Caroline, 7; and Pete Miller, father of two.

"You get the kids out of the house," Miller said. "And it gives moms a chance to be in the house and have a little peace and quiet."

So one Saturday a month, the fools are in charge.

"We just goof off with the kids, or the kids goof off and the dads just sort of hang out," Miller said.

And that's a change of pace.

"Most of the free activities that take place in our family are largely directed by Caroline's mother," Dave Tucker said. "Foolish Fathers is one of the few activities that are really, exclusively father-and-daughter time."

The dozen meetings planned by the dads range from camping to seeing a movie.

"We went and saw the Harry Potter movie. And we went to this place with Go Karts and bumper boats," said Anne. "It was raining that day."

"We've done Build-a-Bear. We went horseback riding, . . . putt-putt golf, and we went to the Rivi," Caroline said, referring to the Riviera Club.

One thing is constant, though: "It's always pizza," said Anne.

"This is very loose, as you would expect when a group of dads are organizing it," Jim Lootens said. "We just go with the flow, and I think the kids like that, and so do the dads."

The dads defend their lack of organization. "When the fools were growing up, like in the '60s and in the '70s, there was a lot more time for kids to engage in unstructured fun," Dave Tucker said. "Our lives, our kids' lives are a lot more packed with organized and structured activities."

It's one day a month when no one worries about eating three balanced meals or getting dirty.

"We kind of make a big deal with our own kids of the fact that 'Hey! Mom's not around,' so the usual rules don't apply. If you want to have Pop Tarts and a Coke at breakfast, go for it. If you want to not wash your hands before dinner, not a problem with us. If you want to jump in the lake with your clothes on, that's OK," said Jim Lootens. "It's not as out-of-control as we like to make it sound, but that's sort of the mystique of it. The dads enjoy that part of it. . . . It's almost like a little private joke between the kids and the dads."

All members agreed on their favorite event of the year.

"Every spring and fall, we spend an overnight at Gnaw Bone Camp" in Brown County, said Miller. "It's a whole weekend of . . . goofing off, telling jokes, telling stories about what happened the year before and the year before that."

"The first fun thing we did was a ride on the cable car," said Amy. "There's a big hill."

"There's cats," added Caroline.

"There's really no schedule," Anne said.

All three fathers agree that Foolish Fathers has given them special time with their kids that they wouldn't otherwise have.

"I think that what Foolish Fathers does is it allows us to pack in some high quality time with our kids and also to get to know them in situations that we don't normally get to see our kids," said Tucker.

"The interaction between the dads is unique, too, because typically one of the first things that you inquire with another dad in a normal setting is what does that dad do for their job," he added. "The unique thing about Foolish Fathers is that we really put that aside. We rarely talk about our jobs, or talk about what's going on at work, and our focus is really on the kids, and then also just on the dads as individuals."

The wives and mothers of the members have good opinions about Foolish Fathers.

"All the wives sort of chuckle at watching the men try to organize something, because it sometimes has some pretty amazing results. We muddle through it, but they humor us and laugh at us as we try to do what they do so well," said Lootens. "But on a deeper level, I think she understands and sees that it's made the relationship between my kids and me stronger, and she also understands that just for me personally, it's a great outlet."

But nobody thinks a Foolish Mothers organization would be successful. "Mothers are not foolish. It would never work," said Miller.

"I would think if it was mothers, then they would do more girly things," said Anne.

Joining the organization isn't difficult. Miller and Lootens heard about it from neighbors; Tucker joined because of Lootens.

"It survives just by word of mouth. You know, the way we got involved in it is the way people have got involved in it for the last 30 years -- one dad talking to another dad," said Lootens.

The girls agreed that a father can be an authoritative figure and a friend to his children.

"I respect him. And he's also my friend," Anne said.

"He gives me lots of hugs and kisses," Caroline added.

But when it comes to qualities that make a good father, being a friend wins out.

"They have to be nice," said Amy.

"They have to know their kids, like they can't be at work all the time. And they have to be fun," said Anne.

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Katie Lootens, 14; Courtney Sampson, 15.

* REPORTER: Keisha Mitchell, 13.