Not a good Father’s Day Gift?

Here we go – Father’s Day is coming up, and websites such as Red Envelope are already trying to act like they know what men want.

This is the inherent problem with Father’s Day….where you have people that might not exactly understand the male mentality, and try to get the best “Man Gift” on the market…and in doing so, turn to sites they prefer (like Red Envelope) thinking that if they understand women so much, then of course they understand men. 

Case in point – As linked by someone (you know who you are) – The Beer Holster.  While I am not arguing the novelty of the product,  I do question product quality, markup ($29.95 that is “Reduced” to $19.95) and practicality.  To me, this is a gag gift, plain and simple.  If I got one, I would smile, wear it once or twice and never use it again.  Man up….hold your beer.

Also, why go someplace like Red Envelope in the first place?  Looking at their “Father’s Day Bestsellers”, you can see how incredibly overpriced some of these items are.  While there are some S&B related items out the list, I wouldn’t go out of my way for any of them.  If you want something like this for your significant other, then go to source that at least has more unique offerings (in this case, such as Beer Outlaw), where they have multiple options and at least allow it to be customized. 

Another example on RE is their offering of “Here’s to Dad”, a knockoff on Beer Bouquet, except you get 3 Root Beers and some meat and cheese vs a 6 pack of of beer (your choice) AND a customized bucket with Dad’s favorite sports team or interests.  I know where I would put my money.

I’m not trying to knock these particular product lines, but instead want to highlight that men think a lot differently than women.  Our needs and tastes are vastly different, and the best thing you can do is to ask what we would like.  Flowers and cards are nice, but really that is a female substitution applied to a male holiday.

For me, this year will be extra special, as we will be taking our son to Notre Dame for his first football camp that he will participate in.  As some of you know, the Notre Dame football field was the first place he ever touched grass, so this is a bit of the circle becoming complete.  I didn’t plan for this to happen on Father’s Day, but seeing him out there and watching everything take place will be better than any gift.  It matches my interests, personality and involves the my son.  Perfect.

And that is the thing.  Guys, especially as they get older, move away from the gag gifts, but more towards things they can wax nostalgically about.  We think of our Fathers and our childhood, we look at things that have personal meaning and sometimes a little personal time is just the ticket.

Sitting on a porch and enjoying a life well lived on “Father’s Day” is probably one of the best things you can give Dad.  My fondest memory of my Dad was just sitting with him in his back yard (him in his advanced age) and enjoying a beer (he always went out of his way to make sure there were Killian’s in the fridge).  We didn’t talk much.  We were already in tuned with each other.  There wasn’t anything to say.  Just a sunny day….me and Dad.