It should be Father's Day every day

Another Father’s Day has come and gone. Celebrated on October 7 here in The Grand Duchy, it passed with little fanfare. I saw no advertisements nor did I hear anyone talking about it. If you didn’t notice, don’t despair. There’s a pretty good chance that the country you come from has its own date set aside for fathers.

It was an American woman who concocted Father’s Day as a complement to another American inauguration – Mother’s Day - way back in the early 1900s.

Father’s Day. Mother’s Day. Children’s Day. And even Parents’ Day in the US. Ack! Don’t get me started on Name Day. “Just don’t call me ‘late for dinner;’” I can hear my parents say. I concur. Can you tell I don’t like such contrived fêtes?

For a minimalist like me, this proliferation of designated days can really rattle my cage. Father’s Day in particular has the potential to cause fits. Being a bicultural family living in a third country, there are three different Father’s Day dates where the kids could utter a greeting. They missed their chance in June when it was Father’s Day in the US, and they didn’t say it two weeks ago. The Estonian rendition is coming up in November.

If my sons can muster up enough memory to mention it then, that would be great. What could be better than two pre-teens bounding down the stairs with their arms and smiles wide, bursting exuberantly, “Happy Father’s Day, dad!” If not, I’m fine with that, too.

More important than having a special day, I’d like to be regularly treated as if each day is Father’s Day. I’d also like it if the boys and I were better at treating my wife as if every day was Mother’s Day. And I’d be thrilled if I was better at treating my kids as if every day was Children’s Day.

But life doesn’t work that way. Hence, these banner days. As a dad, I imagine the calendar turning to next month. As a son, I inwardly flip forward to next year making a mental note to call my mom and dad. These days gain meaning with distance and time. I’m sure our sons will feel the same way once they move out of the house.