I don't think that readers of this poem are supposed to be afraid of Papa. I think that, although his attitude toward his father is more complicated, the speaker is truly fond of his dad. I imagine his father to be a hard worker, that is why his palm is "caked hard by dirt." I also imagine him to be a good father, despite the fact that the smell of whiskey on his breath could "make a small boy dizzy." I picture a dad coming home from a long, hard day's work. After having some whiskey, he picks his son up and they start dancing around the house. The little boy is wild and they are dancing so fast that he has to hold on for dear life to his father so that he won't fall. His father feels how tightly the small child is hanging on and so he makes sure to hold on to the boy's wrist even tighter. He would not let his boy fall and get hurt. Meanwhile, the mom is probably struggling to hold back a smile as her two favorite guys bond. She has to put on a serious face, though, to try to get them to stop being so crazy as the pans are "sliding from the kitchen shelf." The effect of the poem's rhythm and rhyme also make me think this is meant to be a happy poem. Lines like "such waltzing was not easy" and "waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt" make me think that this was a wild, fun time that the little boy never wanted to end.