Can we talk a little about what we did for Father’s Day THIS year, so that we can refer to it NEXT year? I’d wanted to do a post on Father’s Day gift ideas last week, but I felt too discouraged, and also Paul reads here sometimes and I didn’t want to give away his gift idea. And of course all the store gift ideas are like “Barbecue! Golf! Beer! Sports! Tools! Here’s the perfect idea but it’s $250!”
I was lucky this year, because I thought of an idea for something I wanted to get ANYWAY for Paul, and Father’s Day was only a month or so away so I bought it and put it aside.
Wireless Remote Locator (photo from Amazon.com). Paul is continually getting frustrated at not being able to find the remote, and I am continually getting frustrated about the frustrated searching, so this is really a gift for BOTH of us. There is a risk, of course, of losing the remote finder—but I plan to NAIL IT TO HIS HAND THE WALL.
For my own dad, I got a copy of Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles, and the Vulcan Death Grip (photo from Amazon.com) and a bag of pecan-pie-flavored pecans.
I’m trying to remember what I’ve done other years. One year I got Paul a grill, but the gift in that case wasn’t really the grill (which was a household item we’d agreed to acquire, and also too expensive for what we do for Mother’s/Father’s Day) but rather the handling the research/purchase of it and asking my dad to set it up. (Actually, I think I also had my dad do the research.) (And he might have also been the one to pick it up at the store, now that I think of it.) (BUT I’M THE ONE WHO ASKED HIM TO.)
Most years for Paul I do my favorite idea, which is to have the kids each choose one treat-like item (candy, gum, chips, nuts). Even with the occasional known misstep (a younger child insists on getting him a certain candy, for example, even when I explain that No, Daddy Doesn’t Like That Kind, YOU Like That Kind), with five children there’s bound to be SOME things Paul likes. And it makes a good exercise for the kids: here we are in the candy aisle, but we are NOT THINKING OF OURSELVES. (Or maybe we will think of ourselves for just ONE little bag to share on the way home in the car.)
Or, in our family we do online wish lists, so sometimes I can choose something from there. Just as I try desperately to find a love/heart tie-in for a Valentine’s Day gift, I scan his list for a tool/dad/beer tie-in for a Father’s Day gift.
Or sometimes I find that what I want from Paul on Mother’s Day is (1) getting to sleep in, even a little bit, (2) having some time in the house by myself, even a short time, (3) having someone else do a chore or two that would usually be mine, and (4) various other small considerate things. So I try to keep those sorts of things in mind on Father’s Day.
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I suggest we pool ALL our ideas here and now, and next year I will write a lovely and thoughtful post in time for us to USE them.
WELL. I believe in reciprocal gift giving - try to match in value and thoughtfulness what you got for Mother’s Day. So for Father’s Day this year I went “golfing”.
^ still bitter
Because I am not a total douchebag the kids gave him a golf themed hanging chime type thing for the front of the house, a golf themed Tervis cup filled with his favorite candy, and a tool that he wanted.
Amanda | June 20th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
I bought a 3-pack of white decent white t-shirts, and then had each of my 3 kids draw a picture on one with pencil. Then i carefully traced their drawings with that Tulip paint stuff, and now he has 3 cute (kind of hilarious) t-shirts with drawings that are obviously kid-drawn.
Obviously this is not the best gift for everyone, but my husband loves them. He likes kind of absurd t-shirts, though.
Plus, it was quite cheap.
karen | June 20th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
I sent my dad a 3 pack of golf balls (he says golfers always need more!), 2 jars of home made baked beans (his favorite) a carefully chosen cigar, and a keychain that I assembled from findings already had and a metal disk stamped with his initials that I bought on etsy. I think most dads are pleased to just be remembered.
Cassie | June 20th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I admit to a BIT of reciprocal bitterness this year re: Mother’s Day, but I think the idea itself is still a nice one — I just did cards this year and interviewed my older (verbal) son about his dad and grandpa, and then wrote his answers in the card. What do you like to do best with Dad/Gpa? What is Dad/Gpa good at? Why is he a good dad/gpa? etc. The answers were pretty funny and sweet, and I think this could be a nice tradition.
Auntie G | June 20th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
My dad is a big wine fan, so I got him two books about the wine world for Father’s Day this year. One was about the history of wine in the US; the other was about the seedy underbelly of the wine world. (!!!)
For Mother’s Day, I got my mom a box of Shari’s Berries which are FANTASTIC. I got them as a birthday gift and now I want to send them anyone and everyone. They would be a great gift for a sweet-tooth kind of father.
Life of a Doctor\\\'s Wife | June 20th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
My kiddo is five, and her dad and I split up last year with a nasty custody battle, so I got the lovely task of helping her choose something for Daddy, even though I still have fantasies of him accidently driving off a bridge. Too raw for Milk and Cookies?
I finally settled on a personalized cell phone cover. There are a million options out there, but I chose cellphoneshop.net. Frankly, their website looks like a cheeseball factory that will rip you off, but the customer service was prompt, the proofs came back quickly, and the product was pretty good quality, outstanding for what I paid ($5.99, no joke). Wrap it up with kiddo-stamped-and-stickered paper, supervise a carefully lettered card, and TA DA! All done.
BKC | June 20th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Since I got a pretty ring for Mother’s Day (plus breakfast in bed, et al), I tried to really ignore what the kids wanted to get him (CANDY! TSHIRTS!) and went with a travel coffee press mug so he can have good coffee even out of the house (like at work), and two bags of nice coffee and a yummy flavored creamer. I caved to the ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ tee and hat, and then also printed out some ‘coupons’ for him to ‘cash in’ for his favorite, the big tubs of RedVines. I also got him a nice new dressy tie and some fun Skittles riddles that the 4-year-old insisted on.
We took him out for breakfast, gave him his goodies and then I made him steaks. He seemed quite pleased.
Alicia Cross | June 21st, 2012 at 7:49 pm
My dad is a big gardener but has to split his gardening duties between his regular house and my parents’ lakehouse (I know isn’t life hard?). At the Lakehouse he has several large compost bins for yard clippings/leaves etc that he uses on the garden. Also since there is no trash pickup in the small community there, the trash needs to be taken out at the end of a weekend there.
Sooooo, I got him a kitchen compost bin so that he can both add organic food material to his composters, plus if he doesn’t put all that stinky food material in the garbage over the weekend he won’t have to transport the trash as often. I researched a lot and read lots of comments but went with a large stainless steel one due to the size and not having a small opening which several of the nice crocks did. He was really pleased.
Anonymous | June 22nd, 2012 at 9:21 pm
The kids “picked out” a wrench or ratchety thing, a baseball cap and Choffy.
But the best gift I gave him was a few years ago. He loves the march madness, and his favorite part is the One Shining Moment at the end. I downloaded the song and scanned a bunch of pictures of him playing bball as young as 3rd grade, then pictures of our lives together, him with the kids and made a slide show to the music. He loved it, and still watches it, and gets teary eyed every time. It was time consuming but cheap.
Lippy | June 28th, 2012 at 5:36 am