There’s No Refund For Your First Father’s Day

I hated sharing my June 17th birthday with Father’s Day as a kid. I actually hated sharing anything at all, but it really seemed unfair that every six years or so I had to share my day with all of the dads across the country.

Our first Father's Day together was really great and it's kind of a bummer that only one of us will remember it. Thank goodness Rosalie wasn't drinking.

It seemed fitting then that my first Father’s Day as an actual father would fall on my birthday. Instead of getting two days for everyone to recognize my awesomeness (or realistically, politely pretend to recognize my awesomeness), I would only be getting one. I would have to share my birthday with myself. It might go down smoother, but disappointment doesn’t taste any better as an adult.

Today’s day of double celebration didn’t include anything I’d classify as fun (read: no booze or go-karts), but it was a day filled with the little things. Sleeping in till 8 o’clock, a quiet cup of coffee with my wife, a trip to the dog park and some quality soccer on TV. Starting at 2pm, my wife was off to work and I was on solo dad duty. Immediately it was obvious to me that Rosalie didn’t care about either my birthday or father’s day. This struck me as selfish – even for a seven month-old – but I took the high road and kept quiet about it. Instead, Rosalie and I spent the afternoon like we usually do. I tried to teach her how to do things like crawl and talk and read, and she put things in her mouth. As the day wound down and I was getting her ready for bed, I found myself overcome with contentment. Go-karts or not, this felt like the perfect way to spend my birthday and Father’s Day – hanging out with the tiny human that has done so much to change who I have become in the last year. I decided to tell her about it.

“It’s my birthday, and it’s father’s day. Thanks for making both of them great. I love you,” I said to Rosalie as I laid her in her crib.

She looked up at me for a beat, kicked her legs a couple of times, smiled her million diaper smile and then let out a giant burp. If that isn’t “Happy Birthday and Father’s Day, I love you back.” in baby speak, I don’t know what is.

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