Anyone _not_ celebrate fathers day?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Or mothers day, for that matter?

Because we don’t, and I think it’s kind of cool.

You see, back when my brother and I were kids, my father and mother both came to the agreement that the respected holidays were bunk. That is, it was their contention that the ‘holiday’ was just that, a ‘pseudo’ holiday created by marketers and corporations to boost sales at an otherwise dead time of year. If I remember right, my fathers exact words were, ‘I don’t think it’s right. A bunch of people got together, and because of the lack of legitimate holidays during the summer-time, basically said, ‘Hey, let’s create a holiday for the mothers and the fathers’ Ka-Ching!’.

Ever since then, I gotta agree with the old guy- it’s bunk. It’s not anything my parents have ever expected or wanted, and it’s not going to be anything I expect of my kids either (Come the time that I get kids).

So, am I alone? Or are there others out there that find this holiday bunk (Or even worse)?

2

As a kid I never did Father’s Day because my father has never been in the picture.

We do it now b/c we have a kid and hubby is, of course, a dad.

3

I was guessing the slant on this one was not celebrate father’s day because dad was a monster. Wrong-o.

Well, dad was a monster and I did stop celebrating father’s day after I moved out and then dad found God and Jesus and got his act together and now I do celebrate father’s day because I forgave him and he’s a good guy now and I want him to know I appreciate him.

Regarding the OP, I would never buy a mother’s or father’s day card (but I might make one) because I hate the crass commercialisation, too, but I don’t see anything wrong with showing appreciation for a mother or father on mother’s or father’s day. It can be fun for the father and everyone else and it doesn’t have to cost much of anything.

I suppose it would be better to express this appreciation on a more regular basis, but one day a year may be more realistic.

4

I am not observing Father’s Day because my father died in 1998. :frowning:

Neither is Father’s Day being celebrated for me, as I have never been lucky enough to start a family. :frowning:

5

Geez you guys, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean this as a ‘My dad’s a dick’ or anything. I simply meant it as a ‘Who, for various reasons, doesn’t support the notion of father’s day’ thing.

But, in a way, I can understand your pain (Hey, this italicise (Or whatever the fuck it’s called) is going to be long, and more than I’d like to say, but screw it, I’ve realized there’s a point here).

OK, so, this isn’t a thing I like or typically talk about, but know it’s kind of out- back in my teen-years, the 80’s or so, my mother, on her way to meet me at school, was killed in a car accident and the whole thing. Pretty bad and pretty fucked up. But… but, as a family, and as a person who had a bunch of friends, I was able to grind through it. It sucked, but hey, shit moves on. This, or that, wasn’t anything I was trying to bring up here, or now- the way I looked at it, and still kinda do, is that people with complete and total families still go through the ‘fathers day’, ‘mothers day’, etc., stuff and probably don’t celebrate it for various reasons, outside of what happens to happen to different families.

In a way, that’s still my intent, because after her death, I still say to others, ‘Hey, this holiday isn’t that bad because we never celebrated it in the first place. If we did, I might feel bad’.

I don’t know, I feel a bit bad now for bringing this up when others that have other reasons than my own for not bringing up, or celebrating, this ceremony have reasons for not wanting to think about it.

This may have been a ill timed thread in different people’s lives… I apologize if it was, the intention was entirely different.

6

Sorry Johnny L.A. You’ve shown there is something to Father’s Day.

CnoteChris I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one. Your line of reasoning would naturally lead to forgetting about just about every holiday. Just like with Christmas, there is a way to celebrate without giving into the commerical side of it. Valentine’s Day is a big day for the florists, but when you are in love it can be quite a day.

Or haven’t you ever heard of “Bah, hum-bug?”

7

Holy moly, that’s pretty messed up above.

I apologize for that more than anything.

8

My Father was a monster, and I stopped for a while. Even after getting a decent stepfather, I didn’t celibrate Father’s Day for many, many years because it just “didn’t feel right” yet.

But now I do.

9

In our household we don’t celebrate Father’s Day or Mothers Day according to the calendar. Partly because we’ve tried to limit our consumerism, but mostly because every day around here is Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. We always feel appreciated by each other and by our kids. Of course there are times when the kids do projects at school specifically for these holidays, and they feel really proud that they made something that they could bestow upon us in honor of these occasions.

On the other hand, my husband and I always call our parents on these days to wish them happy happy, but that’s the extent of the ‘celebration’. Since they live in our neighborhood, they’re always included in the general appreciation bit.

10

Well, I celebrate most anything because I love life. But I feel that I celebrate my dad every day because I loved him so much and lost him when I was a kid. I don’t see any harm in treating a mom or dad or anyone a little extra special every now & then. You don’t have to get all commercial. Same thing with Christmas. Many people are agnostic & atheist, & yet they just treat it all as a fun celebration of life. :cool: Now move aside. You’re blocking the sunshine! :stuck_out_tongue:

11

Similar to Johnny L.A.'s situation, my father died this past December. So this will be the first post-death Father’s Day. I truly have no idea what it’s going to be like…we kind of passed the six-month point without really noticing the semianniversary date, but this is different. Once we get through this, it’s pretty smooth sailing until the actual anniversary. His birthday and their wedding anniversary are already past (Mom was in the hospital getting her knee replaced on their anniversary).

I’m kind of babbling…sorry about that.

jayjay

12

My dad’s not a monster, but he was never much of a father. Never acted like a parent – he was just a guy who lived in the house with us and had hollering rights. I don’t find his personality very appealing either, and he and my mother should have been divorced a long time ago, but she has no backbone. So while I gladly bring my mother posies or whatever on Mother’s Day and her birthday, the sperm donor gets zip-a dee-doo-dah. I also don’t acknowledge their wedding anniversary. Nothing to celebrate.

(Conversation I had with my mother once:

Mom: “He may be an asshole, but he’s still your father.”
Me: “Well, he may be my father, but he’s still an asshole.”)

13

Both my father and father-in-law have passed away, so No. I was surprised to be reminded of it on the radio since it is a day that no longer registers at all. I know some fathers, obviously, but have never been a send-a-card-to-my-brother-in-law-for-Father’s-Day kinda guy. I celebrated it when my Dad was alive, but that seems so long ago…

14

If anyone wants to start a “My Father Is Not Worth Celebrating Fathers Day Because…” thread, please do so(preferably in the BBQ Pit). Let’s bring this thread back on topic-Does anyone not celebrate Fathers Day, or any other “holiday”, because they feel that some holidays are manufactured for sales purposes?

15

My dad’s deceased, so it’s a non-issue in that regard for me. And my kids are teen-agers, which means things like father’s day are not on their radar screen at this point. Which is fine, I don’t need another tie, or another dubious video or DVD which I never watch.

The wife, on the other hand, puts the word out well ahead of time as to what she’d like, so generally ends up with that, flowers, and a nice brunch. I think it all comes down to marketing.

16

As a kid, the only time I heard of Mother’s Day or Father’s Day was at school and usually after the fact. To this day, I do nothing for either day (I did say “Happy Mother’s Day” to my mom this year, I guess). However, if I were to have kids some day, I’d probably push for it, I’m such a selfish bastard.

17

As with others, father’s been dead so long it doesn’t even come up on my radar. But when I was a kid, I did make things like cards - I don’t remember buying stuff for him, though.

I do understand what CnoteChris is addressing. Having spent a portion of my life toiling in the flowering trades, I got to see what a spike something like Fathers’ Day could be for business. From their perspective, the more the merrier; hence abominations such as Secretaries’ Day (one that can be difficult to dodge).

So I was a liittle surprised to learn, from this page on the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm’s website, that it’s kinda sorta official: