Bruce Mikells
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Mother's Day is a day to let her know how special she really is. It's a day to let her know that you wouldn't be anything without her. It's a day to make sure she understands that without her love and support you'd be a whimpering pile of goo.

Father's Day is the third Sunday in June and if you didn't tell your Dad about it he'd probably forget it all together.

We Dad's get the short end of the stick on our holiday and every holiday. The reason why?  We aren't wired to appreciate holidays the way women are. When a Dad wants something, he goes to the store and buys it or gets out his tools and makes it. We don't need Hallmark to tell us to do this. However there are things that we do value and most of them don't come from a store.

I remember a time in my life when Jack and Anna were young when I was something special in their eyes. I was the guy who could do cartoon voices in the car. I was the guy who taught them to laugh at fart jokes. I was the guy that put up the backyard baby pool when Mom said it was too cold to do so. I was the hero. Now, I am just the old guy who provides funding for their social calendars.

Okay, that last part isn't exactly true. I know my kids still love me and enjoy my company and they have a lot of respect for this juvenile profession in which I work. Since they've gotten older I am not so much the hero as I am the jester. Instead of looking at me with wonder when I do my impression of SpongeBob or a talking parrot, they just look at me. Sometimes it can be really uncomfortable.

So what do you get the man who wants nothing or needs nothing in particular? Time. That's what I'd like this Father's Day. I'd like my kids to spend some time with me. We could mow the yard or cook out or just sit and watch cartoons. That would be just fine with me. I have learned to appreciate my kids as people since they've become young adults. I love hearing their ideas. I love knowing their hopes and dreams.

A recent story I read suggested that other Dad's feel a lot like I do. We don't want stuff, we want a few minutes to be Dad. We won't take long because we've got things to do. None of those things are anywhere close to being as important as you are, but we have to pretend, otherwise you might see the hint of a tear in the corner of our eye. It just wouldn't be right to see an old man cry.

Note to my kids: a gift card or maybe a new fryer would be good too if you really wanted to spend the money I gave you.

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