Neither Patrick nor I is sure how it happened, but for the past several weeks, we both have been utterly sure that today was Father's Day. I can point to only two factors that could have led to this misapprehension: 1) Tess's Kindergarten class had their Father's Day Brunch this past Friday; and 2) today is the second Sunday in June. (You know how Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May? Yeah.)

Earlier this week I shopped carefully for Patrick's gift. I planned a special breakfast and dinner for today. And weeks ago, we planned to have a church youth fireside meeting at our house for next Sunday evening, not wanting to have it on Father's Day.

There were a couple of clues that could have been picked up on by someone slightly less sure of herself. Example: when I realized that the gifts the kids had purchased through the PTA fundraiser wouldn't be delivered until next Friday, I actually said to Patrick, "I think the PTA thinks that Father's Day is next Sunday. I'm sorry that you'll have to wait for some of your gifts." Example: when I looked at my page-a-day calendar and noticed that Father's Day wasn't listed for this weekend, I thought, That's weird. All kinds of obscure (from an American point of view) holidays, from ANZAC Day to Armistice Day, are usually listed. Why not Father's Day?

This morning, as the kids and I came into church, Patrick walked up to me quickly and said, "It's not Father's Day." I'm assuming he did this because he didn't want me to get my nose all out of joint when I realized that the speakers and hymns for the service were focused on a subject entirely other than fathers. (Patrick, as the Bishop of our congregation, is always at church two hours before the rest of us; someone had alerted him early on.)

So we split the difference. Patrick has already sent his father a gift; it's better to be early than late, right? And I still have time to shop for my dad without having to apologize for my tardiness. We had our Father's Day breakfast and I gave Patrick his Father's Day foot rub and homemade chocolate shake (yes, he does get those treats more than once a year). But I'll keep the racks of lamb in the freezer and all of the gifts in an undisclosed hiding place until next weekend. We'll still have the fireside next Sunday evening as planned. No real harm, no foul.

But here's what's still troubling me. It never occurred to me that I might have been wrong. When confronted with indicators that this might be the case, I blithely found ways to explain them away. It makes me wonder how often this kind of thing happens without my realizing it. I do think I question reality in general a lot more than the average person. But what else am I walking around mistakenly assuming is true? And am I alone in this? What about the rest of the world? What about you?