Wednesday 16 September 2009

Dads




We recently celebrated Fathers Day here in Oz, it's a day dedicated to all things dad. Now many people would gripe that Fathers Day has become too commercial, that it's all about gifts and how much you spend. The same argument is voiced for all special days, Christmas, Mothers Day, Easter etc. It is my belief that how commercialised a day becomes is a matter of choice, you can buy into it or you can choose not to. My husband told me of some fathers calling into a radio station discussion about Fathers Day gifts stating that nothing short of a new car would be suitable. But this is not my topic of discussion today. My topic is about the marketing and advertising that surrounds the day and the way dad's are portrayed.
Father's Day this year was celebrated with my husband, the father of my two girls, and my brother in law, the father of my nephews. We just had a lunch for us all and I did buy gifts for them both. Both of these men are wonderful fathers, they interact with their kids; they talk, play, hug, kiss and show their children that they love them. I am proud to call them my family and I have high hopes for the children under their influence. However the advertising that surrounds Fathers Day seems to portray a very different picture of the modern father, one ad I can recall labels them "the keeper of the lawn and the custodian of the remote". I don't know about most people but the remote can rarely be found in our house! And then there are the cards, dads that snore, that fart, that care too much about their power tools. Now I don't want to turn Fathers Day into a sappy day full of white fluffy bunnies and kittens with puppies, but really, our dad's deserve more than this. They do so much more than mow the lawn and change channels. They tend to scraped knees and broken hearts, they get up in the night to deal with the boogie monster. They provide birth support and change nappies. They cook, they clean and they wipe noses. They read stories, they tickle and they wrestle. They worry. They love.

I know lots of guys don't want to be too emotional but keeping in mind that dads are so much more than they seem might be our best bet.

2 comments:

Rhianna said...

yep I know what you mean there is so little encouragement for the true fathers to shine through, it is like there is a conspiracy to keep them hidden from society.

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean the best times are spent just enjoying family. My husband still has the cards and presents our children made him but can't recall the things they brought him as they grew older. Now just a phone call from them any day brings a smile and makes him happy, he is still a hands on Dad.

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