WEDNESDAY,JUNE16,2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
Not everybody celebrates Father's Day
By Amanda O'Toole aotoole@kansan.com Kansan Staff writer
Matthew Buechner doesn't celebrate Father's Day. The associate professor of molecular biology sciences doesn't see the need to.
He said he can tell his two girls, Clara Kundin, 14, and Pamina Buechner, 11, care about him without making a fuss.
"You're a dad and a mom all year round," he said. "I can tell they care about me by looking in their eyes."
The United States Census Bureau reported there are close to 6.2 million fathers in the country. Despite his negative outlook on the holiday, Buechner still has memories of celebrating the day with his own father and he tries to parallel the relationship he had with his father with his own children.
Buechner remembered making gifts usually cards, for his father.
"He was a very loving and giving man," Buechner said. "He used to play Legos with me. I try to emulate him as a father."
Instead of building with legos, Buechner has a long tradition of reading to the girls before bed.
Liz Kundin, Buechner's ex-wife, said that was one aspect of his relationship with the children that she admired.
"He's making memories with the children," she said. "Reading will be something they always remember."
Both Kundin and Buechner said Harry Potter had been a staple in that relationship.
"Sometimes the girls are disappointed when the actors in the movie have different accents than their dad does," Buechner said.
The tradition of bedtime reading has begun to fade, Kundin said. Pamina still gets bedtime stories but Buechner stopped reading to Clara a few years ago. He said that it was just a part of growing up.
"I miss reading a little bit," he said. "On the other hand I get to see them develop other skills."
Kundin said that her ex-husband was a good role model for the children as well.
"One of the things about Matthew is that he believes in what he believes in very strongly," she said.
And he does not believe in Father's Day.
"You have to win kids' respect just like they have to win yours," he said. "You don't need a special day for them to respect you."
His oldest daughter agreed.
"There's no real point in the day," Clara said. "Kids are going to appreciate their parents without buying them a gift that the parent doesn't need."
Clara remembered giving her father a tie made out of clay when she was little.
"If we make him something or get him
HEARD On the Hill
"I'm going to call my dad. If I were with him, we'd go have some beers and probably play soccer." Victor Vaca Santa Cruz, Bolivia junior
"Today's my dad's birthday, so we're kind of splitting it up. We'll probably go out to dinner tonight and my mom will get a cake for him."
Juliann Mitchell
Lawrence graduate
something, he just tells us we shouldn't have done that," she said. "I don't mind it."
What are you doing for Father's Day?
He thought the girls may even be with their mother on Sunday. He said, "I won't
"My parents are back home in Chicago. I'll call my dad and see how he liked his present. I got him a barbecue apron." Stephanie Preiser Chicago senior
"Probably make my dad something or buy him something, maybe write a poem in a card."
Jessica Laredo
Shawnee sophomore
— Amanda O'Toole
Edited by Abby Tillery
treat the day any differently than any other day."