Father's Day - the Blog Version

I knew the day was coming. I have been trying hard to think of what to do. But in the end, my small brain couldn’t handle the pressure and I just didn’t do anything. I’m talking about Father’s Day, of course. By mid-morning, I was completely frustrated with my lack of inspiration and my husband’s obvious disappointment. He wasn’t surprised, mind you. The Mother’s Day gifts to our moms are still sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be sent. Nor can he look down on me too much, Oh, He-Who-Once-Forgot-My-Birthday. The problem is that I get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks and I just can’t really focus on anything extra. So, I finally threw up my hands and said to him, “Well, it would have been easier to pull off this Father’s Day business if we didn’t have any children!”

To that, he stormed off to do the groceries. I stayed behind to rally the troops into making a Happy Father’s Day banner and upgrading our home from “pig-sty” to “lived-in.” When he returned, I felt even more horrible. The tears started to fall as I was putting away the groceries. He did the groceries on Father’s Day. A day that should be about him and there he was doing all the things he always does – for his family. This man who does so much for me and his sons, deserves better. And I let him down.

Turning to the one thing I knew I could do, I gave him this.


Dear Husband,

In the past, we have celebrated Father’s Day in a variety of ways. There have been hand-made gifts from the kids, cards, poems, rain barrels, and special foods. But on this Father’s Day, I screwed up. For lack of a better idea of what to do for you, I ended up not doing anything. But not presenting you with a gift or breakfast in bed does not mean that I don’t honor your being the father of my children. I express myself best with either baked goods or the written word. And since it is too hot to bake, I wanted to show you all those little and big things that you do for our family do not go unnoticed. So here is a list, although not exhaustive, of those things that I appreciate so very much:

Coming home after a long day of work and still giving yourself to the kids.
Wanting to be successful at your job because that is one of ways you take care of us.
Doing household chores and not considering it “helping” me out.
Taking care of the kids but not calling it babysitting.
Greeting me every morning with a cup of coffee.
Knowing exactly how I take my coffee and that no one, even me, can make it like that.
Worrying about the gutters, the moisture in the crawl space and the condition of the roof.
Exploring your primal instinct to provide for your family by doing the groceries.
Remembering to bring the recyclables to the curb every other Wednesday.
Understanding my need for space and finding ways to give it to me.
Walking the dog first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
Mowing the lawn and watering the plants.
Having an infinite amount of patience with our children, especially when mine is used up.
Respecting all of my contributions to the up-keep of our family and household.
Being such a good sport about Cub Scout and school activities.
Resisting the urge to give me a hard time about tearing the front end off the mini van.
Packing the lunch boxes every morning, even if it means having to search for them first.
Driving the kids to school even though it makes you late for work.
Surprising me, often.
Calling me just to say, “I love you.”
Coming home from work and not asking, “What’s for dinner?”
Cheerleading me through my daily life.
Reading to our sons almost every night.
Finding me fun.
Saying that I’m beautiful when I’m having a moment where I think I am not.
Being open-minded and level headed all of the time.
Loving my parents.
Doing all the driving when we take road trips.
Maintaining your own interests and finding ways to share them with us.
Toting a toddler whenever we go hiking.
Being my partner in parenthood.


Thank you, my love. Happy Father’s Day.