Father's Day Is Just Another Day

Every year Father's Day becomes more and more like any other day.  Last Fathers Day my son bought me a gift he wanted for himself, it was a pair of Nerf dart guns that he quickly shot me in both eyes with. 

I was oddly impressed with his aim as I pressed  the palms of my hands into my burning eye sockets. The year before that my daughter spit up warm and curdled breast milk into my mouth and eyes, while I was holding her over my head and blowing farts with my mouth against her belly.   As awful as any of that may sound to some, to me these are the moments life is made of, so you have to embrace even the days that are filled with flicked boogers and flung poo, and foul language and tempertantrums, otherwise your life might disappear without a trace.

This year for Father's Day I imagine breakfast in bed will be no more than a cup of coffee and a plate of toast that I hide with in the bathroom, and eat while lying undisturbed in the tub. A little happy Fathers Day hanky panky will comprise of nothing more than a kiss and hug, and a slap of my butt as I walk my wife up the stairs to fold laundry. 

The days activities no doubt will include mowing the lawn, painting the white picket fence and mopping out the basement.  Maybe there'll be  some bug hunting under the deck or clearing up the crusty remains of a bird or mouse that died in the garage the week before.  Life doesn't stand still for holidays, it just smashes right through them without even noticing they're there. So you better celebrate every day like its the biggest  holiday of the year because these might be the only ones you ever get.

Even when my kids are at their worst, even when they make me want to dig my fingers deep into the flesh of my bald head looking for hair to pull out of it, they're still some of the most amazing people I've ever met. And so every thing they do at any given moment makes me proud to be their dad.  Every day with them is no less special then the next.

Today my son called me crying because he missed me. Without even thinking I changed my plans and hopped in my car.  He thanked me over and over again for coming home to play with him he as wrapped his arms around my legs, buried his face in my stomach and hugged me.  If you ever want to give me a Father's Day present just give me more of that. Let that feeling never disappear.

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