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Provided by the compucert Father's Day 2007 is today, Sunday, June 17.
A father carries pictures where his money used to be. — Unknown One might be excused for thinking of this day as the other parent's day, coming along as it does five weeks after Mother's Day as if to say, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
In the US, there are fewer dollars spent on gifts ($8.2 billion in 2005 as opposed to $11.2b. for Mother's Day; per spender the sum was $85.66 compared to $104.63), and retailers say the shopping is more last-minute. Even Google Trends confirms that online searches for dear old dad's day don't measure up to those for his partner in procreation. [See graph.]
In fact, the only area in which Father's Day is No. 1 is... collect calls. [See article on the Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com).] Not phone calls as a whole, just collect calls; phone call volume in general doesn't rise, according to Verizon.
The genesis of the holiday seems similarly me-too-ish. The story goes that Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, was attending a Mother's Day service when she started thinking about her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who brought up six children alone — essentially, he became a mother as well as a father to them. One is left to wonder: Had the late Mrs. Smart still been in the picture, would her daughter have lobbied for a Father's Day?
It is worth noting that while the first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910, it wasn't until 1972 that it was made official nationally, by President Richard Nixon (though Lyndon Johnson issued a presidential proclamation in 1966).
The moral of this story: Much as mom's work is often unnoticed and underappreciated, dad's role apparently slides by even lower on our radar screen. He may be out of the house a lot, but remember the bedtimes stories he would read to you when he got home, the games of chess and catch, those fishing and camping trips, and how nervous yet proud he was when you went out on your first date?
So here's an idea for this Father's Day; don't just tell your dad that you appreciate him. Appreciate him for all he has to offer: ask him about what he was like growing up — try to find out what made him who he is today; ask him about his work — his expertise can be unexpectedly valuable; share his interests and hobbies — you may find you enjoy taking in a ball game, building a toolshed, or watching that John Wayne movie that he's always talking about more than you ever thought you would, if you do it with dad.
And make sure to articulate your affection — reach out to him and even the most inexpressive father will reach back to you.
A father carries pictures where his money used to be. — Unknown One might be excused for thinking of this day as the other parent's day, coming along as it does five weeks after Mother's Day as if to say, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
In the US, there are fewer dollars spent on gifts ($8.2 billion in 2005 as opposed to $11.2b. for Mother's Day; per spender the sum was $85.66 compared to $104.63), and retailers say the shopping is more last-minute. Even Google Trends confirms that online searches for dear old dad's day don't measure up to those for his partner in procreation. [See graph.]
In fact, the only area in which Father's Day is No. 1 is... collect calls. [See article on the Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com).] Not phone calls as a whole, just collect calls; phone call volume in general doesn't rise, according to Verizon.
The genesis of the holiday seems similarly me-too-ish. The story goes that Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, was attending a Mother's Day service when she started thinking about her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who brought up six children alone — essentially, he became a mother as well as a father to them. One is left to wonder: Had the late Mrs. Smart still been in the picture, would her daughter have lobbied for a Father's Day?
It is worth noting that while the first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910, it wasn't until 1972 that it was made official nationally, by President Richard Nixon (though Lyndon Johnson issued a presidential proclamation in 1966).
The moral of this story: Much as mom's work is often unnoticed and underappreciated, dad's role apparently slides by even lower on our radar screen. He may be out of the house a lot, but remember the bedtimes stories he would read to you when he got home, the games of chess and catch, those fishing and camping trips, and how nervous yet proud he was when you went out on your first date?
So here's an idea for this Father's Day; don't just tell your dad that you appreciate him. Appreciate him for all he has to offer: ask him about what he was like growing up — try to find out what made him who he is today; ask him about his work — his expertise can be unexpectedly valuable; share his interests and hobbies — you may find you enjoy taking in a ball game, building a toolshed, or watching that John Wayne movie that he's always talking about more than you ever thought you would, if you do it with dad.
And make sure to articulate your affection — reach out to him and even the most inexpressive father will reach back to you.
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