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June 16, 2006
What To Get Dads On Father's Day
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Father's Day is very different from Mother's Day. Based on the persons involved, we have different events and worries.
For example, one of the favorite gifts to give mom is a day off, completely to herself, or at least a meal without the cooking and clean-up. But on the third Sunday in June, what man wants to be removed from his grill? None that I know of. And he likely wants the whole brood, if not neighborhood, over to see his masterful culinary skills. So instead of giving Dad a day off, you give him the day to prepare the meal and an audience to parade his cooking skills in front of. (Poor mom gets clean-up duty!)
Even the gifts are different on Father's Day. Buy mom a waffle maker or blender, and you are sort of saying 'make me more food.' Any gift is suspiciously seen as delivering your wishes, not hers. Even if you buy her a dishwasher, you're saying that she'll always be the one to load it.
Dads on the other hand, seem to want gifts which allow them to display their skills. Even if those gifts and skills scream 'Hey dad, do this for me!' Grills, tools, and car maintenance supplies, the general tools of the dad trade, are good gift options. Even the generic tie is seen as a way to show how you value Dad The Provider.
As a woman, buying gifts for the dads in my life has been difficult. I know and understand how to make moms feel like real people, but I struggled buying practical tool sets, barbecue tongs, white t-shirts and gold-toe socks. Those things just felt like something dad can buy himself... And then I remembered: dads don't like to shop.
Dad actually will enjoy putting the new shop vac to use -- right after he uses last year's barbecue set to make us all his famous burgers -- and he won't have to go to the store to get it either. It really is a gift to him. And my mother.
My purchase of the latest shop vac will be one less thing my mom will have to do... And after she cleans up the kitchen and patio from dad's cooking, she can use the break too.
Posted by photocartoonist at June 16, 2006 1:57 AM