Happy Father’s Day to the moms who are doing it all

On Mother’s Day a few years ago, I was sick on the couch, watching “Shaun of the Dead” and trying to keep down dry toast.

My son, Sawyer, worried that I was missing out on my special day.

It’s fine, I croaked. We could celebrate another day.

We did. On Father’s Day. Sawyer took me for Indian food and gave me a “Walking Dead” poster he’d picked up at Phoenix Comicon.

It wasn’t the first time I had been feted on Father’s Day.

When Sawyer was younger, my friend Ed gave me a tie. It was green and garish, and I loved it.

“You’re the best ‘dad’ I know,” Ed had written on a blank card.

Now you can buy Father’s Day cards for single moms. That makes some people uncomfortable. They say it’s a shot at real fathers.

No one is saying dads aren’t important. Single dads should get a shoutout on Mother’s Day, too.

I love Sawyer’s dad. I am grateful for our son. But Jim lives in another state, so it’s been me and Sawyer.

I took him to monster-truck rallies, showed him how to wield a lightsaber, taught him how to burp while chiding him not to do it at the dinner table.

He knows how to throw a spiral and properly swing a bat. (I played a wicked third base.)

He wasn’t scarred by learning to pee standing up from someone who sits down.

I was always aware that Sawyer needed more than me. I recruited a tribe for my son, one made up of family, friends and neighbors who have been part of our lives for as long as Sawyer can remember.

He turned out fine.

So when people wish me “Happy Father’s Day,” I thank them.

Especially if there’s Indian food and presents. Reach Karina Bland at karina.bland@arizonarepublic.com.