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Father's Day Gifts

Who wouldn't like to find the perfect gift for Father's Day? We'd all
like to, but so few of us do. You could probably stop anyone on the
street, and almost guaranteed, they're familiar with what I like to call
"The Tie Strategy"- shop for a month, get frustrated, and wind up
buying an industry approved, cliched gift, such as the time-honored tie or
the ever familiar "Sope on a Rope."

It seems almost ridiculous that finding a gift for dad should be so
hard when he's the man who raised you, and yet, across the board, he seems
to be statistically the person who people complain about shopping for
the most. Indeed, the idea of shopping for dad once a year wasn't an
original idea or something anyone jumped the gun on as a fantastically
relaxing way to spend their May/June free time; Father's Day was
instigated to complement Mother's Day. In other words, someone felt guilty,
and therefore obligated to balance out the gift-giving ratio,
regardless of whether it came as a natural inclination or not. That which we
are obligated to do always seems to come as a drudgery.

However, it really ought not to be. Honoring one's father- the one who
gave you half his chromosomes and possibly more than just a genetic
legacy in raising you- should be a joy, even fun. Try to ask yourself
these questions when shopping for dad. "Would I enjoy getting this?"
"Would I ever, in fact, use this?" "Would I smugly tell my buds at work
that I got this from my kid or would I pack this away into my
ever-growing pile of sentimentally valuable junk that I never look at?"
Questions such as these improve the gift-giving process any time of the year,
not just for Father's Day. Bad questions tend to be "Does this fall
into the category of a typically acceptable Father's Day Gift?" "Is this
expensive enough?" "Does this seem manly enough to be a Father's Day
present?" Sure, yet another wrench will make his growing tool
collection glisten just a little more masculine, but who wouldn't love to get
the latest electronic gadget?

My own personal standard is this- and maybe some dads really do like
getting that sort of thing, but I haven't seen a particularly outstanding
reaction yet- "If it shows up on a Hallmark card in one of those
little collages of clipart referencing the ingredients and activities that
define a good old-fashioned American Dad, DON'T get it!" What people
seem to assume around May and June is that all dads automatically
transform into the exact same man, when they don't. Every dad is a singularly
unique being with his own tastes.

Finally, to contradict my last paragraph, there is one thing that seems
to a generally good road to take concerning almost all dads. Just
ask! Sit down, and say, "I'm having a hard time shopping for you, so I'm
just going to come out and ask it, is there anything in particular that
you want these days? I could get it for your Father's Day present."
You'll almost certainly be surprised. One year, my dad really needed a
clipboard for his job and he just hadn't had the time to go down to
the Longs and get one himself. He was so happy that I took one more
thing off his To-Do list, got him something he could actually use, and had
the guts to let him know that I'm just not a good shopper. Now he
starts keeping a list of small things he needs around the beginning of the
year, he's happy because HE doesn't have to shop, and I'm happy because
I don't have to spend five billion years deciding whether he wants
another mini-tool kit or a GREEN fishing pole, as opposed to a blue one
like the one he already has.

This might not be the best if you have the sort of dad who looks
forward more to the surprise than the gift itself, or if you yourself are the
sort of person who loves surprising. In the end, just make sure it's
something that means something to at least yourself, even if you're not
sure whether it means anything to him-he'll be able to tell you put
your thought into it. Don't let buying a gift for Father's Day become
just another thing to get out of the way by following the set example.
Remember- you're buying for a person, not just a dad.

For more ideas, visit http://www.online-gift-idea.com