The Daddy List

Why does it always seem so hard to come up with the perfect Father's Day gift? Is it because they already have everything? Or is it because you believe that a Father's Day gift should be home made with love. Today, I'm going to provide a list of ideas. Hopefully, one may spark your interest:

What ever you choose, wrap it with love! Buy some butcher paper to use as wrapping paper. Then let the kids decorate the paper. The kids will love every minute of it, and he'll love seeing what they've created.

EVENTful:

* Schedule a round of golf with 3 of his friends (I've done this one before..."Surprise honey, today you're golfing guilt free. Have fun!" - Plus the other wives can check off the gift on their list too). Hint: We did this on a Saturday morning so we still had him to ourselves on Sunday.

* Schedule a massage. There are so many massage places around that offer an "introductory" massage for an inexpensive price. If you're a better wife than me, you can give the massage to him personally (after the kiddos are sleeping of course). Or there's the people in the middle of the mall that are always anxious to rub the hub down for you.

* Breakfast in bed. This ranks high on my guilty pleasure list. Give him the works. Let him eat bacon that day. And if your guy is like mine, crack open his ice cold morning juice for him - the kind that comes in a silver can that starts with Di and ends with oke. And when you hand him the remote, he'll feel like a King.

* Make him his favorite meal. They all have one. Even if they're good husbands and eat anything and everything you make and tell you how wonderful it always tastes, they still have a favorite. Find out what it is...

FOR the OFFICE:

* Frame the latest picture of the family to put in his office.

* Give him a digital frame so all can see his cute and adorable family scrolling through the office all day long.

* Make him a new mouse pad each year with the latest pictures of the kids or your child's art work. (Melissa taught us how).

* Basket of Fun! We've given my guy a basket that sits on a table in his office. It's full of all the hand held electronic games (Yahtzee, Tetris, Football, etc), a yo-yo, koosh ball, stress ball, and of course a Magic 8 ball. I originally bought it for him with the idea that when the office got stressful, he could have a minute of fun. Then it became the thing that brought people to his office. Now it mostly entertains our kiddos when they come to visit daddy at work - and it keeps them away from the STACKS of important documents.

* Blank Wall? We found an awesome (and cheap) poster of the 7th Hole on Pebble Beach. I framed it, and it looks fantastic hanging on his office wall. We did the same thing with a picture of Abe Lincoln - his favorite President.

* One year we bought him a nice pair of cuff links and a shirt. It was very well received!

at HOME:

* I like to refer to my man as The Pancake Dad on Saturday mornings. That's his thing. He makes breakfast every Saturday. So to continue encouraging him and treating him right, last year we got him a bigger and better electric grill to make more fabulous pancakes. If your guy likes to cook or has a specialty he does in the kitchen, get him something to go along with that. (Now that's the gift that gives back!)

* If he's a grilling machine, how about something for the BBQ: tools, spices/rubs/marinades, or even a gauge to warn him when the gas is running low (because nothing's worse than half cooked meat and a cold grill).

* Of course, Sears is always telling me that "he" needs more tools. If that's true, help a guy out.

* New sheets? New pillows? New razor? Nose hair trimmers? (Don't you wish you could hand those out to men who need those and have them graciously accept. No ill will. Just helping you - and me - out).

HOME made SPECIAL:

* Notable Quotable Pictures - I had a friend who once made the cutest Father's Day present. She has four children. She got a frame and mat with four pictures. She took an individual picture of each child with their dad and put them in the different slots. Around each picture, she wrote a quote of what that child said about their dad. Example: "I like it when Daddy tickles me."

* Hands and Hearts -

The latest craze with pictures seems to be making a heart shape using your hands. Those would always make a cute picture to frame.

Paint the kiddos hands (both) and print their handprint on a nice sheet of paper upside down to form a heart. You can write a saying from that child about dad inside the heart.

Buy 4 canvases. Paint them. Then place a handprint on each canvas.

This year we're putting our handprints all over Daddy's office walls (because Mommy already has enough of the handprints all over the walls at home). This is what we put together:

And if you're intent on buying him a tie because that's what you're supposed to buy dad for Father's Day, check this one out. It's sure to be the best tie in church that day!