Father's Day - I love the idea. I hate the name.

Every year, Father's Day rolls around and provides a day when we think about the men who helped give us life. We thank them. We honor them. We give them a tie or a beer, and some alone time with the TV or a grill.

Until TheKiddo™ arrived, I never thought much about the day beyond a card and a phone call. Now, each year when it returns, I realize how much I loathe the name of it. My loathing is based on the chasm that exists between being a father and being a dad.

Anyone with a pulse and a sperm count can be a father. They don't have to do anything other than provide half of the genetic coding.

You know the guys I mean. They were there for the conception, and mostly absent since. They were off doing their own thing, unconcerned about participating in and celebrating the life they had helped create. Your own father may have been one of them. 

Sure, they helped bring another human onto the planet. They didn't necessarily help make that human a good one, a kind one, a productive one, or someone you want to know. Not all fathers deserve thanks, and honor. Every dad does.

Dads are fully present. They do everything possible to help their kids—and all kids they encounter—be happy, and healthy, and productive.

They coach sports, including the ones they've never played. They chauffeur even if it's to 5 a.m. practices or games. They teach all they can about any possible topic, and learn just as much along the way. They help bandage scrapes and kiss bruises—even when the bruises are to egos. They make Jell-O at midnight for feverish kids with no appetite. They comfort during illness even if it means sleeping on a cot in a hospital room.

Dads watch. Dads guard. Dads protect.

Dads do all that, and expect nothing in return. Dads know full well that when the cameras are on, the kids will say, "Hi mom." It's okay. It's part of the job. There's no complaining. There are no hurt feelings. Dads do whatever it takes to raise happy kids, regardless of the accolades.

Dads are present, because that's what matters. And that's why Father's Day should be Dad's Day.

The act of becoming a father is brief. The art of being a dad takes a lifetime to learn, and it cannot be perfected.

Thank you to all the dads from whom I have learned. And thank you to all the dads from whom I will learn.

Enjoy this day. Tomorrow, it will be all about mom again.