Advanced Father's Day Gift 2010

Just as I was just getting ready to sleep, face down, with DH massaging my aching back, I felt something shoved into my open right hand. It felt like a small package. As I was about to look, my 8-year old son Renz darted away.

The package had a post-it note stuck on it saying "Advanced Happy Father's Day". Of course from the handwriting I knew immediately it was Renz who scribbled it.


Early Father's Day Advertising

Somehow, Renz had the idea that Father's Day was on the following day, June 13, Sunday. Actually it's June 20, in the following week.

But just the same, he was egging me to open the package. However, it was late and "lights out" for us, and so I said I'll open it the following day.

The following day, Renz was up early and was STILL excited for me to open the package. So I opened the package and this is what I got.


I wondered what the Advanced Father's Day gift was. It looked like a colorful puzzle or a ref magnet or a tool of some sort.

I inspected the gift, until I saw this on the top right corner.


Ahhh... a toy... Sneaky.

Maybe it's the early and heavy advertising of the Father's Day occasion in bookstores, gift shops and restaurants, that is why many thought Father's Day was on June 13 (a week ahead) instead of June 20.

For this year 2010, June 20 is the 3rd Sunday of June and that's when most countries celebrate Father's Day.

Other Dates for Father's Day

Actually, other countries do have different dates for Father's Day.

Did you know that in a few Catholic countries, it is celebrated on the Feast of St. Joseph? Yup, that's St. Joseph of the Holy Family.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, Fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, commonly called Feast of Saint Joseph. This date is March 19 of every year.

In certain countries, Father's Day has become a secular celebration. It is also common for Catholics to honor their "spiritual father," their parish priest, on Father's Day.

According to Wikipedia, some of the places that celebrate Father's Day on the Feast of St. Joseph (March 19) are the following:

1. Andorra (Dia del Pare)
   
2. Bolivia
   
3. Honduras
   
4. Italy (Festa del Papà)
   
5. Liechtenstein
   
6. Portugal (Dia do Pai)
   
7. Spain (Día del Padre, Dia del Pare, Día do Pai)
   
8. Antwerp (Belgium)

We generally don't go out to celebrate Father's Day. We normally just have a quiet time at home since most retaurants and malls would be busy anyway. But since we have so much to celebrate, and I promised the kids pizza, we decided to pig out on pizza - something we don't usually have for lunch. So yup, it was a welcome treat.