Not another power tool!
Tobi Carver - 30th May 2021
Father’s Day is fast approaching and this year the day – June 20th – may have an added significance. If – as it seems – the Government’s Lockdown Roadmap runs as planned Father’s Day will be the last day of social distancing measures in England – so a hug from your dad might well be close at hand!
Some version of a day to honour fathers and fatherhood has been around for centuries. In Catholic Europe such celebrations are known to date back to at least 1508. ‘Fathers Day’ was really established in 1909 by American Sonora Smart Dodd who, together with her five brothers, had been raised by her single parent father. In the UK though the tradition didn’t take off until after the Second World War and probably isn’t as well observed as Mother’s Day.
Being a father is obviously a very special thing. Full of responsibility to your offspring to make sure they are cared for, nourished, encouraged, supported, protected and … well the list is quite long really.
My journey to fatherhood was slightly unexpected. If I’m honest it wasn’t something I ever expected or particularly wanted to happen. Things have a way of changing your world and my daughter is the cutest, funniest, most beautiful little girl I could have hope for. I now find myself in the position of not only have a child I never thought I’d have but being immensely proud to be her ‘dada’.
The truth is I never wanted children. Just didn’t. The only reason I have a daughter is down to my partner. Of course you’ll be saying that’s obvious. It takes two to tango etc. Possibly a ticking body clock made her think maybe she did actually want a baby and knew she’d be an awesome mum. And so she is and our daughter is the way she is mostly because of her. She has made the whole process as easy as possible for, the most reluctant of fathers.
You’re saying: ‘This isn’t a blog about Mother’s Day though, it’s about fathers and Father’s Day, right?’.
Quite right! And yes, fathers should be celebrated: they have soooooo much to cope with!!! Mothers are hard-wired to deal with this whereas… fathers aren’t!
This year as lockdown eases and potentially ends (yeah) you’ll want to do something great for that special father figure in your life – but what?
‘What’ all depends on you and them. But who wouldn’t want a lovely framed photograph of a beautiful dawn from TDT as a special piece of photographic artwork for their wall. Every time they look at it they’ll know how much you think of them.
Okay, shameless promotion over what else could you do? Perhaps, especially this year, do something remarkable. Make the day as memorable as possible. Something you will always remember and make that hug really count.
