Father's Day 2k16

The primary perk of being a parent is getting one day a year to celebrate being a parent. 364 (365 this year) days each year are dedicated to diapers, routines, and walking around in circles picking things up.  But on Mother's/Father's day, parents get to shine! There is usually a meal involved, maybe a gift, and certainly a Facebook news feed full of pictures of you with someone else where the someone else looks good in the picture.

I am fortunate to have already experienced a couple Father's Days before. One year I messed up and planned a joint Father's Day pizza party at New Albanian Brewing Company before realizing it was closed on Sundays. Thank God almighty, we scrambled and ended up on this side of the river for some classic BBC brews.  Another year we had a cookout deal here at the house with plenty of jams and cold ones. Sure, a couple mistakes have been made in planning, but Father's Days have been awesome for me to this point. But now I have two kids and deserve this day more than ever.  Father's Day 2016 is going to be LEGIT.

Involve the kids?

If it were not for my kids, I would not get to celebrate this day. But my kids are also the reason I am clinging so tightly to one day out of the year to celebrate. So should they be around? I have a buddy with three kids who celebrates Father's Day each year watching the final day of the US Open and drinking by himself in the basement. I do not think the kids are allowed to break the threshold of the doorway leading to the basement stairs. On the other hand, I am sure there are plenty of dads out there who enjoy being around their children so much that they want to involve them in every aspect of Father's Day.  Personally, I think there can be a happy medium: bring the kids around but have an understanding that the father's role in the upkeep of the children is diminished for 24 hours.

Thanks for FD2K16 guys!

Want a gift?

I am always going to take experiences and getting to call the shots over material gifts any day. If you want to get me some quality cold ones or a frozen pizza, that is certainly appreciated, but not necessary.

Oddly, I thought this year was going to be different. I had been talking up cellphone cases that wrap up and are akin to a wallet. Then I received an email from Amazon that read something to the effect of "Iphone 6S case XTR4590Y has shipped!". Later,  I was on the Amazon webpage and our suggested items included a few different leather-looking IPhone case/wallets. I was onto something. I even talked to a friend at work about how the cases work and what features to look for (I am not sure about the mirror, but the magnetic strap is impressive).

I have to admit, even though I am not a big "gift guy", I was pretty excited. Then yesterday my wife told me "hey, you may get an email about an IPhone case, I had to order one for a shoot at work, they will pay us back." There that goes! Back to planning what I want to do...

So, what is the plan?

The yard is not where I want it to be at this point in the season. Unlike some (Mr. Goody 2 Shoes across the street, I am looking at you), I do not prioritize my yard over my family and career, but I do want it to look good. So I am thinking about getting an Oberon mini-keg and spending most of the morning and early afternoon working in the yard. And I do not mean just mowing, there is a huge bush I want to cut down and lots of trimming/weeding to be done. Hell, I may even get started on a decorative centerpiece in the front.  After that, either the zoo (I can get as many Safari Ales or whatever they are called (at $6 a pop) as I want) or a Bats game with double nachos and an Against the Grain pre-game.  All of this is weather-permitting of course. If we end up indoors, look out either Mellow Mushroom or El Toro or maybe BOTH, it is Father's Day after all.

If I am a father struggling with Father's Day plans can I contact you?

Absolutely.