On Saturday, I said to Tom, "Tomorrow's Father's Day, and I'm thinking that the kids are all going to in-laws, so I think we'll be alone."
"That's fine," he said.
So early Sunday morning, I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast and we had a nice morning listening to classical music. We stayed around the phone, in case the boys called to wish Tom a Happy Father's Day.
No one called.
By afternoon, I was mad at my sons and myself, because I raised those sons and if they weren't calling on Father's Day, it was my fault. I mentioned this small rage to Tom, and eventually he got mad himself.
So we were generally huffing and puffing around late Sunday afternoon. We ate lemon pie, which helped a little.
Evening, we sat on our front porch. This time of year, our neighborhood is gorgeous, but we were both grumpy.
Then I had this thought, which I said aloud, "Maybe today isn't Father's Day."
Tom said, "It's always the middle of the month."
"I'm going to look," I said.
So I went into the kitchen and googled Father's Day 2015 and it said June 21.
"HA!" I yelled. "It isn't Father's Day. It's next week! HA! HA!" I returned to the front porch and sat down.
"I'm still mad," Tom said.
"But it isn't Father's Day!" I said.
"But I thought it was."
"Me too."
The neighborhood glimmered in pink and sparrows sang from the pear tree.
Years ago I was on the receiving end of that parental irritation: My father was irritated when I did not call my mother on Mother's Day until late afternoon. Ever since, it has bothered me that I felt obligated to call her (or him) in the morning, or right after church and before lunch. (That is a 5-minute window of time at my parents'.)
ReplyDeleteLast year, some months after Mother's Day, I called all our kids and told them I did not want to celebrate Mother's Day anymore: no phone calls, no gifts. All I requested, either the week before, or the week after, was a postcard from each of them. (I love postcards!) I got terrific postcards this year, and I loved it. Now, when I asked that Spouse o' Mine "What about Father's Day?", he said HE was planning to celebrate it! Ha ha!
Mother's Day: 2nd Sunday in May
ReplyDeleteFather's Day: 3rd Sunday in June
Different Sundays, just so we can all feel a little unsettled from time to time.
I love that you can be grumpy together. Shared grumpiness, not adversarial grumpiness.
Hilarious!
ReplyDeletethis totally cracked me up. i can picture you now (having seen the digs) huffing and puffing around feeling jilted. the good news is you get to celebrate with tasty foods again next week! rah rah rah.
ReplyDeleteThis year my mom was all huffy I did not call her on Mothers Day but the thing is they are celebrated on different days in America and Sweden so I had no idea it was Mothers Day!
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing! We moved house on Monday, so on Sunday I apologized to my husband for the crappy Father's Day he was about to have-- packing all day, no breakfast in bed, and all the craft supplies packed away so no homemade cards from the kids. Then I called my dad and apologized for not sending a card, and he told me it was next week. I told him he still wasn't getting a card. Moving is the worst.
ReplyDelete