This morning I got an e-mail from a good friend of mine. Oh, I thought, her birthday is coming up, isn’t it? Let’s see, her birthday is my birthday (September 26) combined with my dad’s birthday (April 15) . . . April 26 . . . that’s today. HOLY CRAP I TOTALLY FORGOT MY DAD’S BIRTHDAY! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:
Aargh, how could I have done that? I didn’t call him or send him a present or anything. And now that I’m eleven days late, what the hell can I do to make up for it? I’ll call him today, but getting him on the phone is a crap shoot, since he works third shift and sleeps most of the day. Aw, man, I feel like crap.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll try calling later this evening, when he wakes up for dinner. Mindfield, I’m afraid I can’t invite him to anything, because we live halfway across the country. Unfortunately, I can’t afford much of a gift, either, because in mid-June there’s this awful collision of two graduations, three birthdays and Father’s Day, plus Mother’s Day between then and now. I was thinking about a Burpee gift certificate, though - Dad loves his gardening. And on the plus side, I found some great rates on airline tickets for my weeklong visit to Dad’s place in early September.
I’ve said this before, but most dads don’t really want a dutiful child, they want a loving one.
Call him up and tell him you’re sorry you missed his birthday. Ask him if it’s okay to let his present wait until your income/outgo balance stabilizes. Then talk to him a while. Tell him about something you did recently that you’re proud of. Tell him about a problem you had the other day that you could fix because of something he taught you. Tell him about the group of friends to whom you told one of his jokes, and how they all laughed. Tell him you saw something on TV last week that involved one of his interests (gardening, maybe) and to your surprise you found it really interesting. Assure him that you’re safe and happy: dads can’t hear this enough. Remind him that you were both once young, and that he taught you well, and show him that a least a small part of the world is better as a result.
You sound like a perfectly good kid, The Weird One, but somebody forgot to tell you: relax – it ain’t the calendar he wants you to remember.
Your Dad probably doesn’t even care about the birthday thing. The older we get the less “special” days seem to mean to us. Just call him, chat, and maybe mention the bd and say that the date just slipped your mind.
(Take all of this with a grain of salt because sinjin was married for 8 years before figuring out MrSin’s birthday was 4/4 not 3/3 :wally , and don’t even ask the sinkids about birthday parties 5 months after the fact. Also don’t think about the time sinjin was talking with MrSin, who was out of town on a work thingie, and we both hung up and several hours later realized it was our 18th anniversary :eek: )
Chill, you love him, he loves you, that’s all that counts.
It’s his birth month and my birth day. I’m terrible at remembering . . . well, lots of things, birthdays included, so this was a handy mneumonic trick for my friend’s birthday. Even though I don’t need it anymore, I can’t think of her birthday without it popping into my head.
I called Dad yesterday after work and left a message with my stepbrother. Dad called me back later, and we talked for a while. I appologized for forgetting his birthday, but as some of you predicted, he didn’t care. “That’s not something you should have to worry about,” he said. I think I might get him a combined birthday-Father’s Day present. I always told myself that, once I got on my feet financially, I’d buy him a cider press, and I think I can get a small one for $50.
Then, buy him a really great gift to clear your conscience.
