My first Father’s Day…its always special because in most cases you still have a “baby.” There was no real extravagant gift that I got that day, but just the fact of knowing that it was my first real father’s day made it special for me. Whether it’s his “first” father’s day, or his 20th, here are father’s day ideas all dads can enjoy. Last year, I had been talking all spring and summer about going to the beach. So my wife, on a small budget went out and got a beach pack for me for Father’s Day. The kids and wife had spent all morning making a quiche, which is one of my favorite breakfasts, and we packed up the car with food, my gift and headed off...

Here are more Father’s Day gifts you might not have thought of for the upcoming festival of dads. 1. For dads who love reading about how things work. Okay, this is book for dads to read with (mostly) little boys. It’s the David McCauley series on buildings, including Pyramid, Unbuilding, Cathedral, and Arena. David MacCauley, the artist behind the The Way Things Work books and software uses beautiful pen and ink drawings to explain how different structures are created. But he doesn’t stop there. He creates fictitious stories around each to explain the buildings using stories of how and why things may have been built as they were. For example, in Castle, he explains how the...

It’s still early enough to sift through catalogs or go online to find a fun gift for Father’s Day. Here are a few things we’ve seen in the past few months that might make a different kind of gift. 1. For golfers – Personalized golf club grips. Golf Pride, among others, makes grips in different types that can be engraved with dad’s name, or you can buy them pre-engraved to say “#1 Dad.” Golfing dads always appreciate new grips, since replacing them is a task that’s easy to put off. Personalized grips also lower the risk of losing clubs left strewn (or thrown) across the fairway. Custom engraving ranges from $61.99 to $122.99 at www.GolfPride.com . 2. For iPhone dads with little...

I hope we can all be inspired by Obama’s message about the importance of dads in the lives of their kids. Some men take their own personal experience and triumph over adversity as an example of how all kids should pull themselves up despite the lack of the same advantages most of us take for granted. I like the fact that Obama speaks plainly about how the pain of going without a present father and that he was lucky to overcome it.    Obama says prime goal was ‘to be a good father’ President tells East Room audience of his absent dad’s impact “I decided that if I could be one thing in life, it would be to be a good father,” he told a White House...

A recent survey by Jockey brand underwear survey (Insert PR accolades here) names the following dads as intensely viewable in their underwear. This is not me talking, but rather 1000 “people” 18 or over in a random telephone survey. And the winners are: Brad Pitt – 29% Matthew McConaughey – 24% Hug Jackman 16% Will Smith – 16% Barack Obama – 13% The survey also actually queried whether people thought Obama would want boxers, boxer briefs or briefs as a gift for Fathers Day. I won’t titillate you with what style underwear most Americans fantasize our president wears. I actually don’t recall getting the nomination form for this survey, which may explain...

TREAT HER LIKE YOUR BOSS No matter how tired or fed up you are with how things are going at the office or store or school, or wherever you might work, if the person who signs your paycheck walks in, somehow there is a little reserve of goodwill saved up, just for him or her. From out of thin air comes a smile or a sudden lilt in the voice, or a very optimistic assessment of the absolute disaster staring everyone in the face. This good-natured version of you is like a can of emergency survival instinct, always there somewhere, just waiting to be used. This is the source to which you might consider turning when you are completely fed up with your daughter, when she has found your last nerve and...

Someone may have recommended this book to you, or you may even get it for Fathers Day: Reading with Dad. A Great Father’s Day Gift for a Dad Who Reads to His Kids Tuesday June 9, 2009 If you are looking for a Father’s Day gift for a dad who has always enjoyed reading books to his kids, I highly recommend Reading With Dad. While written in verse and designed in picture book format, this is a gift book for adults rather than a children’s book. The text by Richard Jorgensen and the loving illustrations by Warren Hanson celebrate the love between a father and a daughter that is experienced through the act of reading together. Beginning with the father reading to his young daughter,...

Here are some unconventional ideas for the green dad on your list. For some dads, of course, a home improvement gift is a bit like getting a mixer for mom’s day, but, just like a primo Kitchen Aid mixer is a great gift for a baking mom, these gifts can be killer choices for dads who love to tinker and save. Here’s a cool toy for the energy sleuth on your list: Kill a Watt Electricity Monitor. Monitoring systems for gauging energy use usually require pro installation, but this small device lets you see the effect of plugging in and unplugging appliances right away. A small LCD screen shows you electricity usage, cost, and projections over weeks, month and year so you can decide if...

Father’s Day, or any holiday doesn’t need to be another reason to spend a lot of money shopping for stuff just so you have a package to wrap. In fact, most dads just want to feel appreciated on Father’s Day and that doesn’t even mean a $3 Hallmark card. The following ideas are guaranteed to make dad feel special on this one day of the year. 1. Most dads want to spend Father’s Day with family, but some dads just need a break from the weekend routine. If that’s the dad in your life, help him plan a little getaway before you all get reunited as a family. If he likes to go fishing, tell him to go and you’ll have a big lunch waiting when he gets back. What...

1. If you have the only dad in America without an iPod, the choice is easy. 2. If the dad in your life travels like a maniac, the Kindle probably should be on his list since he’s going to find himself on a trip somewhere with no magazine and no internet connection one day. The Kindle packs all that in a small package he can keep at the bottom of his carry-on. The only drawback, other than the price, is that right now the mindless airlines treat it as an electronic device and make you shut it down during take-off and landing, which kind of defeats the purpose. 3. The Tray-Bien – I’m a Francophile and am not in love with the name of this gizmo, but I do think it’s very...