This morning, as we were sitting at the table reading the paper, Biffle asked, "So, you got anything special planned for me today?"
I said, "What do you mean?"
"You know, because it's Father's Day."
Ack! It's Father's Day! I had completely forgotten. He was mostly joking in asking whether I had any special plans for him, but I felt terrible to have forgotten--particularly since he made me brunch for Mother's Day.
And then I remembered that the reason he made me brunch was that I kept talking about Mother's Day, and the reason I kept talking about it was that people--my family, mostly, but not exclusively--kept asking what Biffle was going to do for me for my first Mother's Day. So it was on my mind, and I made sure it was on his mind. (I'm a big believer in making your wishes known--if I expect a gift or any other sort of specialness, I try to put those expectations out there as clearly as possible rather than expecting someone to know or remember.)
But nobody asked me what I was getting Biffle, or reminded me that Father's Day was coming up and that he is a father!
I don't know if this is some gender double standard, if we don't care as much about Father's Day because we consider mothers more important, or what, but I hold all of you blog readers personally responsible for not reminding me!
P.S. We ended up having a really nice day--bagels and the New York Times for breakfast, a long walk in the blistering heat, and later we took Maybelle to the beach for the very first time.
10 years ago
12 comments:
babies are natural shark repellents.
I called him! He didn't answer, but I left a message.
I refuse to be held responsible. You are an adult and an assertive female. As such you, and only you, are responsible for your actions.
:)
So, how did she like the beach? And, speaking of not telling people things, why didn't you tell us there were 4 - count 'em, 4 - new videos of Maybelle up?? I was just getting ready to call you back to suggest that you take a video of Maybelle sitting up "for real", and just decided to check first - and there were 4 new ones we hadn't seen!!!
Oh, BTW, they're really great! Thanks, Alison and Walter. And Maybelle. Love you guys.
People just don't care much about Father's day. Seriously.
In my experience, it's a widely understood and tolerated double standard between Mother's Day, which is a big deal, and Father's Day, which isn't.
I am not quite sure how you missed the last three weeks of grill and golf related paraphernalia adverstised as on sale in the P&C....and shouldn't the making your wishes known standard go both ways??
we thought about calling but figured that it would be found weird since he's not our dad...but anyways- happy late fathers day walter!
well, i would have thought it was weird, too, but Trey called me and i thought it was kinda sweet. Any body else think Trey is gotten sweet in his old age?
Um, I'm glad you had a wonderful day, but I'm with Claire on this one. Perhaps you also didn't notice the technology & tie ads?
Some years I encourage the girls to buy J chocolates & flowers to even out the gendered assumptions. This year, Madeline bought him a mat made from flip-flop parts, mostly because I wanted it. I don't think forgetting is the lamest thing one can do (you could, like me, buy him something you wanted; in my case, I was reciprocating for the lcd tv "I" received for my birthday.).
-littledj
I definitely think Trey is getting sweet in his old age.
And yes, I recognize that remembering Father's Day isn't really that hard to do...
In our family, it's the other parent's responsibility to make sure the children do something for the parent whose Hallmark holiday it was, but that's it. This year:
Mother's Day: cards drawn in marker featuring horses
Father's Day: tile painted (portrait of dog) at pottery-making store, keychain spelling "D-A-D" in letter beads on a gimp lanyard
Oh and then we have to model remembering our own parents for the children's future benefit. "Hey there kids, want to help me pick something out for Grandpop for Father's Day?"
Since Walt is notoriously a ("virtually" speaking) no-reply kind of guy, it might seem the rest of the world forgot about him on Father's Day, but I bet if he checked his email, he probably had numerous Father's Day wishes from well meaning folks....including myself (via Facebook). d:
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