Happy Father's Day

Today was Christian's fifth Father's Day. Even though we don't go in for commercialised "days" that heavily, it's still nice to celebrate days like this together. It reminds us of what's important, and also reminds us to tell the special people in our life that they are indeed special. We usually see my Dad and Christian's Dad for a coffee or a little catch-up, but the dominant part of Father's Day for us simply means letting the kids hang out with their Daddy. All three kids wait desperately for the weekends, as that is when Daddy is home and ready to play. On Father's Day, when they have the chance to give Daddy presents and go out for meals in cafes, it's like a weekend on 'roids!

Our first Father's Day as a little family was when Jack was only five months old, so we have a few photos of baby Jack (complete with jowls) giving Daddy big cuddles. Our second Father's Day fell a few days before Phoebe made her big debut, so we went on a little picnic out near Emerald. The photos from that day capture 17 month old Jack toddling around a picnic ground, with a very pregnant Mummy in the background!! On Christian's third Father's Day, we had a pretty quiet day with Grandpa and Pa, as we were preparing for Phoebe's first birthday party. Last year, I had a cute little five month pregnant belly that was still comfortable to cart around, so we actually went out for dinner. And this year, Christian's first as a father of three, we have had a very busy, very fun day.

This morning the kids gave Christian an assortment of handmade and Southland-purchased gifts (including a card with Jack's first attempts at handwriting on it - bless!!) at an absurdly early hour (but still normal for a Sunday!) We went to our swimming lessons as usual (although Maisie was under doctor's instructions not to swim, and she was not impressed) and Phoebe had a ball splashing around in Daddy's arms. After swimming, we had lunch in a cafe, went shopping for a bike for Phoebe's birthday, and visited my Dad. At this very moment, Phoebe is curled up in her Daddy's lap, watching  his new Tour de France DVD. Very soon, we will be taking three rather tired kids out for dinner with Christian's Dad.

When you think about it, both Father's Day and Mother's Day function fairly similarly to any normal day when you have small children. You still need to get up with them, regardless of the hour, to dispense Weetbix and break up squabbles. You still need to clean dirty bottoms, feed hungry children, and settle tired babies. You still need to pretend to eat pretend porridge (or coffee, or cakes, or whatever Phoebe's kitchen is cooking up), answer endless questions, and wash ridiculous amounts of dirty clothes. You also get to enjoy the spontaneous cuddles, listen to the made-up songs, receive Weetbixy kisses, hold warm sleeping babies, and enjoy the company of your children, for whom every day is Father's Day. Because all they know about Father's Day, is that it's day you tell Daddy you love him. They may not comprehend the hours that Daddy works just to pay the mortgage, but they do remember the hours that he spends playing with them, wrestling with them, reading stories with them, riding bikes with them. So thank you, both to my own Dad and my children's Dad, for the love, kindness, laughter, discipline, sharing, listening and time. Happy Father's Day, we love you.