What to get your Dad for Father's Day
If you're scrolling articles about Father's Day gifts with your own dad in mind, you must need some ideas. He has probably gotten to a point in his life where he needs nothing, and if he wants something he goes out and gets it. What token of appreciation is right to express what you love and admire about your dad, and what does one get for the man who has everything? It's a tough question, but luckily, we have some ideas!
Get your dad a tie.
Wait! This isn't a joke! Presenting your dad with a beautiful tie is only part of the idea; a tie is both a practical menswear accessory and a way to gift tickets with flair. Give your father a tie and ask him to wear it to a special event. Take your father out for an elegant meal, an evening at the symphony, cocktail hour at the art museum-any event where you honor his interests, especially if he made a point to share them with you as a child, and spend one-on-one time together. All the fathers of grown children I have spoken with named spending time with their kids as the thing they wanted most for Father's Day. A lovely experience and time with you is sure to delight your father, and a tie you presented for the event will become a sweet memento of Father's Day that he can wear again and again if he wishes.
Get your dad a book or magazine subscription.
We have got a twist for this one, too. If distance separates you from your father, create a shared experience that you can chat about on the phone or over a video call by giving your father a book or magazine subscription that you will read, too. Whether he likes mystery thrillers or light histories, whether he would like to peruse a cooking magazine or National Geographic, if you provide a parent-and-child set of reading materials you are showing him that you have paid attention to what he enjoys over the years and that you want to connect with him as an adult over his interests or shared experience. Further, if your dad is of the taciturn type and doe not generally have much to say even though you want very much to be in touch with him, you just stacked the odds in favor of having a guaranteed conversational topic. That's always a great gift!
Get your dad a memory.
We're not talking about making a new memory, we're talking about honoring or bringing back an old one. It's likely that you and your dad shared some great times throughout your childhood and adolescence. Did you go to a now-defunct amusement park, or attend a particular sporting event together? Did your dad teach you to drive in a car that is really dated now, or give you a special flower in your corsage for a father-daughter dance? Bring that memory back. A model car, a game program, a watercolor of a special flower. . .the possibilities are endless. You could frame a beloved childhood photo, or even have it made into a painting. You could have a quilt made of all the matching men's T-shirts you two wore as he coached your soccer team eight years running. You and your father share so many moments and experiences! It is important to keep making new ones, but perhaps you could spend Father's Day concentrating on honoring the memories you have already created.
Get something off your dad's plate.
Unless your father is one of those terrifically organized people with boundless energy, there is almost certainly a specific thing he just never gets "around to." Maybe it's something little like power washing the driveway or something huge like scraping and painting the sailboat. Perhaps it's something resource intensive such as replacing the patio furniture or something that takes a lot of time like cleaning out his hobby room. A great gift for anybody is to take the "One Thing I Can't Get Done" off their plate. It may motivate him to move on to the next project, or perhaps it will just take away the nagging feeling that he is not accomplishing that particular task. The gift of removing a stressor shows a great deal of love and consideration for your dad, and maybe his spouse, too! It's a gift that spreads the love around.
Make him a book.
Most dads, and grandpas for that matter, love talking about “the good old days,” and looking at pictures of the past. They also love pictures of their children and grandchildren. So, consider making Dad a photo book. He will be able to look back at “the good old days” as much as he wants, with a photo book of his favorite places and people. There are many photo book services that are easy to use and even lay the pictures out for you. So, the biggest part of your job will be collecting the actual photos.
If you’re looking for a gift that keeps on giving, you can also set up some book services to hook to your social media or a folder in your camera roll. That way, every time a certain number of pictures get uploaded, a new book will be printed. You can set them to send to Dad as well as yourself. So, he will continue to receive photos year-round.
What will you get your dad for Father's Day?
We hope that we have shown you new possibilities for Father's Day gifts, and more importantly that you don't have to have a brand-new Earth-shattering idea for a gift to make your Father's Day celebration special and memorable. Sometimes gift-giving is about the approach you take and the personal spin you put on it that takes it from ordinary to extraordinary. Give your dad something for Father's Day that he will never forget!