Is it Father's Day or Father Day?

How did you spend your Father’s Day?

Full disclosure: I’m one of the purists (if I can call my self that) who says that “every day is Father’s Day”. So, in my house, there’s no big celebration, no gifts of ties or toolsets.

Instead, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Putting together my kids’ pool, that is.

Pools, even the inflatable variety, take real work to assemble and properly fill (I did well on the former but not so great on the latter – hard to get it all even and fully balanced, but that’s for a different post).

But the weather was hot, and the kids were pining for the pool, so out went dad in his finest shmatas (Yiddish for upscale yard attire) for hours of fun in the sun (before the real fun began, of course).

To me, being a parent is all about service. Sure, it’s great to be appreciated. And that happens every few years or so.

But the main way that I celebrate my relationship with family is to serve.

And it’s not because I am such a nice guy or a great parent. I just want to eat at night surrounded by people who welcome my presence.  

Research is clear that the happiest people are not the ones that are told how wonderful they are or receive gifts. That’s all great. Don’t get me wrong. But true happiness and connection comes only from giving. Nothing else compares.

So, for what it’s worth, I vote that we change the name to Father Day (drop the apostrophe), to emphasize that while we all want that occasional recognition (even if it’s driven by greetings card companies), our deepest fulfillment is to give to the people that we love most.

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” ―H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Happy (post) Father Day!