Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda: I Shoulda Flown A Flag On Father's Day

This year, Flag Day and Father’s Day are on succeeding days, which has occurred several times during my 28 years of parenting. Had I considered the fun we could have had creating a personal family flag just for Father’s Day, by now we would have several flags in our family archives.

I would have started by reading with my children about Flag Day. We would have talked about the history and the significance of this day. We would have discussed the design of the flag, and what the stars and stripes represent. We would have researched different kinds of flags and the variety of important things they can represent. On Flag Day, we would proudly display our own American flag. By understanding that a flag can represent something important, we would have then planned to create a flag to represent Dad and commemorate Father’s Day.

We could have made a paper flag. We would have outlined hands on the flag, or copied photographs to paste onto the flag, or written our own sentiments on the flag. Each child could have had a section of the flag to express their feelings for Dad. By providing a tangible way for even the youngest children to show their feelings, they learn to value sharing their feelings.

We could have made a cloth flag. We could have made stripes from last year’s athletic teams to remind Dad of family outings. We could have made other designs from worn-out clothing that might have special family significance. We could have printed favorite pictures on special iron-on fabric and written notes with fabric pens. We could have included favorite memories or created Top Ten Lists. As flags were compiled over the years, they could have been joined together to create treasured quilts, reminding Dad of little hands and precious memories.

On Father’s Day we would proudly display our flag in honor of our dad. We would proclaim to the world how much our dad means to our family and create a permanent display to remind Dad of our love. As more flags were added to the collection, we would have had a history of Father’s Days past, and a tangible reminder of the history of our family. Just as our nation’s flag represents the history of our country, our Father’s Day flags would represent the history, memories, and love that have made our family great.

About the Author:

Luanne Davidson is the proud mother of three adult children and wonders what might have been if she had done a thing or two differently. She writes her “Coulda, Woudla, Shoulda” column each Thursday.