This weekend is Father’s Day. It’s for dad, daddy, pop-pop,
papi, papa – fathers. For many people,
young and old, it’s a sad reminder of the dads who aren’t present in their
life, for the myriad of reasons why, spanning from choice to illness to death to prison
to deployment to even not knowing who dad is and many others. And
there’s a lot of moms out there trying to fill that space. But it’s not mom’s
day – that was back in May, it was called Mother’s Day.
There seems to be a growing trend over the recent years to
honor the single mom on Father’s Day. I think I’ve actually seen more ads for
gifts and cards for mom than dads for this weekend.
Single moms, no doubt, have quite a challenge in raising
their children alone, for whatever reason they are alone. And this is where I note that some of my favorite people are or were single moms and I acknowledge all that they are doing for their children. But they aren’t
dads. A dad is a male parental figure.
Moms aren’t that. No matter if they are the one who brings home the bacon,
changes the tire, cuts the grass, coaches basketball, as well as cooks dinner,
plants the flowers, and sews dance costumes. (Yes, I know I am invoking strong
gender roled tasks here.) Regardless of
all that, mom is the female parental figure. Give her the honor of a really
hard working mom. Give mom extra flowers on Mother’s Day or even give her an
extra day and let her celebrate Mother’s weekend.
Don’t let dads off the hook or reinforce the “my kid doesn’t
need a dad” message by letting mom take the glory. Don’t make moms have to
man-up by celebrating Father’s Day. Don’t
dismiss the memory of a father. Don’t take away from the dads who are there
and present in their kids life by making them share it with single moms.
To all the kids who are missing their dads this weekend and
everyday, God bless you.
And to all the dads out there, hanging out with their kids
this weekend - Happy Father’s Day.
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