It was that time again. That time of year that Hallmark cards are in high demand and it didn't matter what shop you visited, you would see hundreds of people buying them for this special occasion. No I'm not talking about Valentines, or even Christmas… I'm talking about the good old tradition of Fathers Day. I was so much more excited than I probably should have been, but this year would be the first year that Darien was going to receive a present from our darling Rini, that she had made at school. I had taken her shopping so that she could pick out a suitable role of wrapping paper. Rini had decided on a roll of purple that had pictures of many different socks scattered across it. I had to raise an eyebrow but after Rini insisted "because daddy wears those silly socks all the time, he must really like socks", I had to laugh. Don't you just love the logic of 5 year olds?
So we were in my room, wrapping up the placement she had made him. It was simply a colourful drawing she had made of our family that her teacher had laminated, but I knew Darien would love it. I heard a car pull in the driveway and had to grin as Rini concentrated on sticking the last piece of tape into place. Darien had barely walked in the door before he was attacked, "Daddy!" Rini cried in delight, jumping into his arms and handing him the parcel.
I couldn't help but smile as Darien gasped 'wow' at all the right moments and opened the present that she had made. This was our family and it was perfect. Just like the placemat, it was made with love.