MOMS TALK: Father’s Day Thoughts

Whatcha doing for Father’s Day?

Going somewhere special? Buying something big?

You’ll see all kind of local gift ideas, if you keep your eyes peeled driving around town. would like you to buy Dad a new Weber grill. Home Depot is big into their ratcheting screwdriver sets. is offering Oxford dress shirts.

I don’t know about you, but my dad is tough to shop for.

He has a grill already—and he’d be too stubborn to learn the ins and outs of a snazzy new one.

He has plenty of screwdrivers—but in all honestly, it’s my mom that uses those anyway.

And his wardrobe is already bigger than mine. So those shirts are out.

I got him the fourth season of Dexter, at my mom’s suggestion. It’s a good suggestion. I’m glad she thought of it, because I was stumped. Nothing like Showtime’s favorite serial killer to spice up a holiday.

My dad is my only priority on Father’s Day. Neither my husband nor my ex-husband give a hoot about the holiday, so I don’t worry about them. I do feel guilty that I don’t have my kids do something special, but if the main guy himself doesn’t care, then what’s the point?

And my grandfathers are both long since deceased, so it’s pretty much all about my dad.

He doesn’t care about the holiday much either, truth be told.

Wikipedia tells us that Father’s Day has been around since the early 1900s. Click here to read the article—it’s a surprisingly honest assessment of commercialization and its place in Father’s Day celebrations.

I have always pooh-poohed holidays that encourage too much spending. According to Wikipedia’s article, on Father’s Day in the 1930s, “people felt compelled to buy gifts even though they saw through the commercial façade,” which sounds a lot like what we do today.

However, the article continues on to state that without the three-week long commercialization of the holiday and its related emphasis on shopping and gift-giving, the holiday itself would have disappeared into obscurity.

That’s interesting. It never occurred to me that without all the sales, the holiday itself might disappear. Do retailers actually keep the celebratory side of our culture alive?

Would Father’s Day still exist without a sale at Home Depot?