Who really deserves a Father's Day breakfast?

I reckon there's someone other than me that deserves a bit of pampering today.

FATHER'S Day is tomorrow and I will, for the second year, be the recipient of some presents and a tiny bit of pampering.

My wife will cook me some kind of tasty breakfast and my 17-month-old son will lather his feet or hands in paint and stamp them on a card.

It will all be beautiful, thoughtful and delicious. But most importantly, it will be undeserved.

See I really don't do that much parenting: I duck off to work early in the morning, well before my lad's breakfast and first nappy change.

If I'm lucky I get home while there's still time to play in the sandpit or chase the cat with Young Mick before it's time for a bath, bed and a final bottle.

I try to be as attentive a father as possible and reckon I'm pretty good at it but, the cold fact is, I've spent most of my son's early years away from him, at work.

So when my son is sick, he calls for his mother, when he's had a buster it's his mum's kisses that soothe the bruising.

We spent the day together recently when my wife went to visit some friends out of town.

Mick was full of joy but through the day I would find him standing by his mum's favourite jumper, pointing and calling "Mama, Mama”.

I reckon this experience would be the same for fathers every- where, at least in those early years. If anything, Father's Day reminds me of all the time we spend apart and how my wife carries the larger burden.

Maybe we should cancel Father's Day and have two Mother's Days instead.

Michael Nolan, reporter.

Originally published as Who really deserves a Father's Day breakfast?