Many people around the world celebrate Father’s Day as a day to express gratitude and appreciation to their fathers by giving them gifts or greeting cards.
If we can see past the commercialism and hold the true value of Father’s Day in our hearts, it should be a time to say ‘Thank-you’ and ‘I love you’- Kathryn Borg
As with Mothers’ Day, its foundations are in the US. The foundation of Mother’s Day is credited to Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia who, in 1907, held a ceremony in remembrance of her own mother. Anna then instigated a massive campaign for a national annual festival in honour of all mothers. A national holiday was proclaimed in 1914, whereby the second Sunday of May was to be known as Mother’s Day.
Alternatively, Father’s Day was started in 1910 by a Mrs John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. The custom spread throughout the US and in 1936 a national Father’s Day committee was formed.
Headquartered in New York City, the committee annually selects a Father of the Year. Some of the fathers who have won this title are Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Truman.
In the US, UK and Canada – Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June since the day became a national holiday in 1966. In Australia and New Zealand, fathers are honored the first Sunday in September. Other countries celebrate Father’s Day throughout the year.
Buying a gift for fathers can be a problem; unlike mothers who are receptive to flowers or chocolates, dad’s gift is usually related to cars, the home or other practical items. Recently it has become the trend to give poems to dads; I found several websites which lead to sites such as eBay and Amazon where there is a selection of poems showing dads how much they are loved. In addition, if you have a stepdad, there is actually a site for stepdads with some super ideas of gifts and poems.
The site for stepdads is called www.supportforstepdads.com. Other sites offering links to poems are www.shopzilla.co.uk/father+poems, which will lead to www. ebay.co.uk/fatherhood+poems and www.beso.com/love-you-dad-poems, which, with a bit of searching will lead to Amazon and a whole selection of framed poems especially for dads.
Probably the best way to search for unusual Father’s Day gifts is to Google the phrase. There are lots of ideas on the internet, and even if it is too late this year, you can consider the idea for next year.
However, despite the origins of Father’s Day being to express gratitude and appreciation, this is sometimes forgotten in the mass of commercialism surrounding both Father’s and Mother’s Days.
This is why I like the idea of a poem, because it says what we cannot always say ourselves and serves as something for a dad to keep and remember. I especially like the fact that stepdads have been remembered as, in this age of alternative families, more and more stepdads are included in the family circle.
Taking a wider view of Father’s Day around the world, the concept of celebrating the day is very new in India, for example. The idea of celebrating Father’s Day has been imported from western countries, mainly the US, less than a decade ago. However, it is remarkable to note that the idea of observing a day in honour of fathers has been appreciated by Indians to a large extent.
Today, millions of people in India observe Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June by expressing gratitude to their dads, or men who are father images. Father’s Day celebration in India takes place in the same way as in the UK or US although more limited.
Awareness about Father’s Day is much greater in India in metropolitan cities and larger towns due to people’s greater exposure to the Western cultures in these places. But thanks to the rigorous advertising campaign launched by card companies and gift sellers, the idea of celebrating Father’s Day is catching on quickly with people in smaller towns and cities of India.
Just as in other countries, people in India express their love for papa. Children give cards, flowers and other gifts of love to their dad to show their affection. Dining in restaurants, or going out for picnics or to watch a movie is another common way of celebrating Father’s Day in India.
Several schools and cultural societies organise cultural programmes on Father’s Day. The idea is to inspire children to pay due respect to their dad and take care of them. Fathers are also encouraged to spend quality time with their children and instill in them noble values and manners.
If we can see past the commercialism and hold the true value of Father’s Day in our hearts, it should be a time to say thank-you and ‘I love you’ to your father; it is too painful to do this when they are no longer with us.