Do we need Father’s Day?

Father’s Day, one of New Zealand’s ambiguous holidays resting between Queen’s Birthday weekend and Labour Day is on us once again.

Personally, I’ve never entirely understood why we have such a difference in dates between it, and Mother’s Day, which is celebrated in early May. One would assume that having those two celebrations of the nuclear family closer together would be the way to go. Or that there would be some celebration of children to go with it somewhere in the middle of such different dates.

We, as a society, and as children at one point in our lives, should be thankful every day to both parents. I know I am, as I sit back and think about what I went through during my formative years.

Spending my first three or so years going in and out of hospital, it was my father who spent time chasing after me while my mother hugged me and told me everything was okay. It was both of my parents who taught me how to ride a bike and tended to my many scrapped knees and bruised ego as I kept falling.

And as much as these moments can mean a lot, parents and fathers in particular are just as flawed human beings as the rest of us. For this particular reason, I do not see much reason to take a day and put them on a pedestal.

Honouring them, along with family and other important people in our lives should be a regular occurrence and not just something we do once a year.

Especially not when we’ve commercialised it, like every other official or unofficial holiday throughout the year. If you want to get him something, why not wait till his birthday or Christmas? Or as a random thank you gift?