Help With Father's Day? Please?

[Laurajean]

Quote:
Well then its obvious get him some chicks of his own.....and you better get pics together somehow. Have a stranger take them if you have to....I have always-ed liked that when people have some random person take their picture. Don't know why.

Noooo, he's way too busy to be caring for chickens!

He raised chickens when I was a kid, which is where I imagine I got the idea. But his farming days are over.

 

[whiteflare]

Quote:
Hmmm... you might be onto something there! He LOVES money. Anything along those lines would be pretty welcome I'd think. Is that something you can get at a bank or do you have to order them? I don't know much about them....

I can relate to him there, then

I did a bit of reading up about purchasing bonds, before I noted sourly that I'm not old enough to do so yet and dropped the subject. I'll pull up those old websites again now...

Apparently you can buy them at any bank, credit union, that kind of thing. No idea how, as I haven't tried it

You can also buy them if you slap in your personal and bank details at TreasuryDirect.gov, which is safer than it sounds

 

[CupOJoe42]

A hot air balloon ride
A subscription to a muscle car magazine
An ice cream maker
An outdoor smoker
Electronic Picture Frame loaded with pictures of you and family

 

[sheaviance1]

www.picturesongold.com
How about an engraved photo of you that he can wear?

 

[areyoumymother]

Quote:
Hmmm... you might be onto something there! He LOVES money. Anything along those lines would be pretty welcome I'd think. Is that something you can get at a bank or do you have to order them? I don't know much about them....

How about a valuable/collecotrs coin? Do you have a coin shop nearby? You may try a pawn shop.

Does he dress up for work ? I know this is cliche but what about a nice tie ? LOL or tie tack or cuff links, cologne, etc

My dad still wears old spice ! LOL

About the photo thing....Have a digital camera ready and take lotsa photos of the days events whatever they may be. If you go out to eat have the waitress take a photo of the 2 of you, or do like my kids they get real close to the friend they are with, hold the camera in front as far as they can and take several shots and usually one or two come out fairly decent, it also capture your personalities and the emotion of the moment.

 

[Whispering Winds]

I didn't read everyone's ideas, but what about a gift basket? A HD gift card, a coupon for the two of you to have a steak dinner, either you fix or go out to a nice steak house, coupon for beer at his favorite beer provider

and maybe a hot rod magazine or something that shows the type of car(s) he likes . . .maybe a neat little tool that is the latest rage . . .could make it a lot of fun. . .good luck~~wish my dad was here so I had the same issue.

 

[Carols Clucks]

I like the Home Depot gift card idea. Even if he does use it for sand paper. He sounds like a very practical kind of guy so he would probably be happy getting "free" sand paper.

I would set up the back yard before you meet up with him. Maybe set your beer to cool. Get your chairs out and ready. Treats for the chickens. Any special Decor type items you really like.

And set up your own camera to take a self photo. You can include the coop, chairs and feeding chickens. Or just head and shoulders. Dad will probably feel a lot more comfortable in those surroundings than WalMart and you will probably get a better "Him" photo. Even if it includes one of those ice cold beers in his hand.


Not sure what part of NH your in, but if it is near a friend of mine, I can ask her if any of her photo group lives near by and is up for a shoot on Sunday.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

All great ideas! We're getting to know her dad.
Take all these ideas....gift cards of various types, a bond you buy at the bank, and a picture or gift certificate to have a picture taken of you two at a future time ( something to look forward to), a couple of home made gift certs for "2 hours housecleaning", 1 hand carwash & wax by loving daughter" etc.
Put them in a box filled with stuffing of his favorite color (or a gift basket like Whispering Winds said but hide the next gift from view remembering to make the string long enough in-betwee so the nest gift stays in the basket)
Attach a string to each so he has to pull one out at a time and the next is on the sting waiting below,
Start eh srting with a nickle ( he'll use it for the scratch-off tickets and it will be the starting point.
Intermix with cheepo lottery scratch offs inbetween each of the other gifts ( could even win some cash).
I will be fun.
Take a long time to "open"
Add a little mystery instead of 1 single gift.
Be used for many days at different locations for different things
and remind him for a long time how much you love him and think of him.

Take Carols Clucks idea and present the gift at your specially set up place.
I belive the best gifts have the best delivery - as with dinners - PRESNTATION IS EVERYTHING!

Your dad sounds like a wonderful person - the apple must not have fallen far from the tree

 

[Laurajean]

Aw, thanks everyone! Lots of great ideas! Times like this make me really value BYC. Chicken stuff aside of course, it's nice to know so many people are willing to think of ideas and try to help. I think I'm going to combine several of your various ideas. I don't have much shopping time, turns out he's coming tomorrow instead of Sunday. I'm going to skip the portrait idea *for now* because I don't have a lot of money, and most of the places around here are booked and need advance appointments. Plus, I really think he'd rather relax. So I'm going to make up a few "gift certificates" on my computer, "free car wash by loving daughter" as suggested, "free homemade lunch or dinner at a time of your choosing" because he loves my cooking, etc. I'll also grab a Home Depot gift card while we're out tomorrow and throw that in the bag, with of course, a nice card. And I plan to take him for lunch or dinner, depending on the time.

He just called now to say it will be tomorrow, and I told him to come on an empty stomach because I plan to take him out to eat. He joked and said, "Oh, a Filet Mignon?" and I said, "Sure, whatever you want!" and he said, "No, don't be silly, I'm just kidding." I told him I actually have a coupon for Uno's where if he orders any steak dish I get a free entree. It's a Father's Day Special coupon that I printed. He doesn't like fancy places, he's very casual, and he's also very cheap, so when I said that I have a coupon he was happy. He sounded pleasantly surprised and said "Wow, cool!" So he's perfectly content with just the idea of a steak dinner, so anything else will be a bonus.

Considering I haven't spent a Father's Day with him in a very long time, this will be fun, just hanging out. I really don't think he cares about presents anyway. Oh, and I'll definitely be sure to have ice cold beer on hand, that's a must-do.

And I'll try to get some pictures using my own camera, even though he hates it when I do that.

Edited to add: Also, I think if I spend a lot of money, it would upset him more than please him. He knows I'm broke. I think he'd be more relieved to see the certificates for a home made dinner, etc. than if I spent a ton. He always taught me to be money smart, and I think he would not actually like it if I spent a bunch of money that I can't afford.

 

[calicokat]

I know I'm late to the party here, but wanted to add one thing: A heartfelt, handwriten love letter to your dad. Tell him about specific memories that make you smile, outings you had that you treasure, things he helped you with this last year on your place, habits or traits he has that always make you think of him when you do the same (or a grandkid does it), phrases that he loved to say, words of advice he gave, etc. You get the idea!

I helped an elderly couple move into assisted living, and in their bedrooms at home we found two large frames on the wall near the nightstand on Dad's side of the room. They were letters 2 of the adult kids had written about specific things their dad had taught them, memories they had, and that sort of thing. They were dated years apart, so it wasn't something "everyone" did for a certain Bday or Christmas or anything. And I strongly suspect the brother and sister didn't know that their letters had been framed and meant so much to their dad. It looked like one had been carried around folded in his wallet for several years before it got framed.

Needless to say, the framed letters went to the assisted living place and had places of honor there as well.