Why do we celebrate Father's Day? Someone replied recently "Because we celebrate Mother's Day, of course".
It was always clear why we celebrated Mother's Day. In our family, Mom worked a full-time job, kept the house, did the grocery shopping and tended to our hurts, physical and emotional. And Mother's Day was the one day set aside to honor and celebrate our love and appreciation. So, it was breakfast in bed, a shower of gifts and Sunday dinner out. Everyone knows when Mother's Day is and plans are made well in advance. The cards are bought and mailed, the florist called and dinner reservations made.
I think we celebrate Mothers Day because moms teach us to love and nurture. Without a mother's love a child can barely survive, much less grow up to be a functional person. Still today, I see young mothers run to pick up their child who has fallen and scraped a knee or an elbow. Mom's kiss always seemed to make it feel better.
But, what about Dad? In most traditional families Dad is "The Enforcer". Remember your mom saying "Just wait till your father gets home!" and then sweating as he pulled up the driveway and walked in the door. The fear factor alone was a healthy deterrent. In the game "Good Cop Bad Cop", Dad was always the "Bad Cop" who questioned you until you broke. In our family, Dad was also the judge, jury AND executioner. Funny, too, it seems like most people I know were taught to ride a bike by their dad. Dads never seemed to have a problem telling you to "get up and try again" every time you fell off the bike.
And while mom's teach us to love and nurture, dads teach us how to stand in the face of adversity and not wither, to protect and honor your family, to teach his son how to be a man and his daughter how to be a lady and unyielding to sexual predators. And, dads have the unenviable task of having to tell all those old stories and corny jokes.
It's funny how your youth shapes your adulthood. Is it any wonder that a young man wonders what his mom would think about the girl he's dating or if his dad would be proud of a particular decision he'd made? And, don't we hope our little girl chooses her husband based partly on what she hopes her dad will think?
So, what do dad's think about Father's Day? I think most dads are simply glad to be one. All a dad really wants is know his kids love and respect him and that his kids are on the right track. And while a card, a gift or dinner is nice, probably the best Father's Day gift of all would be a hug, a kiss or a handshake and to hear "Thanks, Dad. I love you."
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