Falling on the fourth Sunday of Canberra's lockdown, Father's Day hasn't exactly come at an ideal time.
Nonetheless, the city's dads are taking time to appreciate the little things as restrictions mute a day of celebration for many families.
Mike Desmond is happy for an opportunity to spend quality time with his adult children.
"I've got kids who are fairly older - my son's 19, my daughter's 17 - and for the last four or five years, it's a quick Father's Day, and I don't see them for the rest of the day," he said.
"But I'm looking forward to actually spending quality time with them this week."
He's content to play Fortnite with his son for a couple of hours, and watch some of his daughter's favourite Netflix shows together.
"If it wasn't for lockdown, I might only see them for an hour or so," he said.
"I'll probably play Fortnite with my son for a couple of hours. He loves it and often asks me to play with him, and I'll also take my daughter for a driving lesson, as well as do some painting with her ... [and] watch some of her favourite series on Netflix."
Mr Desmond's father died 17 years ago and he lost his only sibling in 1983.
"It gives me an appreciation for spending time with family and recognising the time we have with everyone is very precious," he said.
"My father was my best friend, so I think about him quite a bit," he said of the day, which is always one of reflection for him.
He also spends time thinking about his own path as a father.
"I always tell people who've got smaller kids: appreciate them while you can, it goes far too quickly," he said.
"It just seems like a year ago or so I was sending my kids off to school, now they're finished school and doing their own thing.
"I recognise while I'm in a very fortunate position there's others who are doing it pretty tough, and my heart goes out to them as well."
Heather Kilmister will be one of those separated from her dad on Sunday.
While she's living in Canberra, the rest of her family is locked down together in NSW.
She'll be video-calling her family to mark the day, including her pa and father Robert Beggs, while her sister has organised family trivia for the occasion.
"He's a pretty good sport," Ms Kilmister said of her father, and the downsized celebrations this year.
"He would be totally happy to just do like a Zoom thing."
While it has been a tough time all around, the challenges presented by COVID-19 have given her further opportunity to appreciate her dad.
"We actually had a really, really good conversation around COVID and how it was making us feel," she said.
They have been able to navigate the lockdowns, job stresses and disappointments of the pandemic with each other's support.
Ms Kilmister said Canberra's lockdown had been difficult to adjust to, after a year of living through instability.
"He just kind of gave me some good advice ... to take it day by day kind of thing, so that's actually really nice," she said.
"My dad and I don't really get very deep, but that was actually a really nice conversation.
"I think that was like one of the first times like my dad and I were really able to just talk to each other as like adults."
