Fathers Day and the best gift ever!

Father’s Day was recently celebrated, in most parts of the world, on the 15th June – as it was in Malaysia. I’m not a great observer of these commercially oriented days and so when my kids asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day, I told them that we needn’t have to do anything as to me, it was just a silly day created to celebrate father’s and that there was no need to wait for a special day if they wanted to celebrate Father’s Day.



Yeah, probably all a bit too much for them to digest but I think they got the idea. Usually, since Father's Day always falls on a Sunday, we go to Church and then drop in at my parents and the in-laws to wish our respective fathers. We might then go out for an early lunch to beat the crowd or maybe have lunch at my parents with all of us bringing a dish. We'd then just spend the rest of the day relaxing at home. No real fuss and nothing fancy.

My son took ill with a lung infection on the Wednesday prior to Father’s Day and he spent two nights in the hospital for observation. He had been having a bad cough for a week which just got progressively worse. We thus decided, with even more determination, that Father’s Day would not be celebrated at all and at the very most we would pop round to my own Father’s house. He kind of likes the family to get together on Father’s Day.

The kids and the Lovely Wife had other ideas, unbeknownst to me of course! The Lovely Wife decided to cook a lovely lunch on Saturday that we all enjoyed tremendously. Later that day, as I mentioned on my own blog, I took a nap while the kids were supposed to be resting. In actual fact, they were making me a batch of cookies for Father’s Day. My little princess, who supplied the recipe that she had learnt from Kindergarten, reminded me that the cookies were also for Tata and Appu (maternal and paternal grandfather, respectively)- so I was not to finish them!
Very thoughtful children indeed!

However, that is only half the story. Some years ago, my son made a comment that went something like this:

“For Mummy’s birthday, Daddy makes the cake. For my birthday, Daddy also makes the cake. For Sarah’s Birthday, Daddy again makes the cake. Who makes Daddy’s birthday cake then??!!!”

He said this with his trademark waving of his hands in the air for emphasis! For the record, the Lovely Wife normally buys me an ice-cream cake or a ‘high-end gourmet’ cake for my birthday!

However, since that day, I often kid around with my children and tease them by ‘complaining’ that Mummy gets the better deal – especially as far as presents go. On Sunday night, as Father’s Day drew to a close, I teased the children again by asking them how come Mummy got a lovely pendant for Mother’s Day but Daddy didn’t get anything. My son then piped up:

“I told Mummy to get you the long lens Daddy!”

My wife then went on to explain that my son was adamant that they should buy me a new lens for my camera but she explained to him that she didn’t enough about cameras to know which lens I wanted.

“Then we should have got him a watch Mummy.”

My wife then had to explain to him that Daddy is quite particular about what watch he wear as watches can sometimes be very personal.

“But I told you he wanted a Seiko watch Mummy!”

I was very touched at how my son knows exactly what I like. He had seen me checking out a few lenses at a camera shop once and had obviously also been listening when I asked about a watch once in another shop.

I may not have got any physical presents but it didn't matter at all. This was by far more precious. It’s really true what they say. It’s the thought that counts and each time I think about this, I’m almost moved to tears at how thoughtful my son is! Happy Father’s Day, belated though it may be!

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This Post was written by Dharm from Dad ~ Baker & Chef