Happy Father's Day Dads! Hopefully 2021's celebration of all the pops out there will be more lively than the pandemic celebration.
So what can we all do or buy to make sure this year is the best of the best? Dad's are so much easier and simultaneously more difficult than mother's.
They say you don't have to put in a crazy amount of effort, because they claim to not need much but they do tend to notice mom's diamond earrings from the month before when they unwrap your gift for them... a bottle opener.
So a little effort is definitely appreciated.
Redditor u/botl_91 wanted to know our best options when shopping for dads by asking:
What's the best Father's Day gift idea?
Do dad's like flowers? Will they accept jewelry? Or is alcohol and a barbeque all that is necessary? I wouldn't really know, having never had a dad, so I find this an interesting topic. Please elaborate...
Chill
Fathers Day Dad GIF by America's Funniest Home Videos
Giphy
"Just spending a relaxing day with my kids is a great gift. They're adults now living their lives but they make time to see their old dad."
Basics
"Idk if this is the best. But every year I detail clean my dad's car. And he loves it cuz he is older. And such a busy man, he never has the time to do it himself. So if you got the supplies try surprising him with a super clean car."
"Oh I'd love this! And top off the gas tank, absolute heaven."
That Good Day
"When I was little, my dad (a single dad at the time) would take me to our local theme park every year on Father's Day. It was our little life hack - there were never any lines because no dad wanted to be in a gross theme park on Father's Day but my dad did. We did this for about a decade. Every year he would half joking half serious say he was going to make me go on the bungee jump with him; one year we got close, we made it all the way to the harnesses and I chickened out."
"So, a fast forward about 10 years, when I was in my mid-20s, Its Father's Day and I told my dad I was taking him on a surprise outing. He had no idea. I take him to the theme park and walk him right up to the bungee jump and buy two tickets. We had SO. MUCH. FUN. He's just the best god damn dad in the world and he made my otherwise crappy childhood so wonderful. Nothing is as precious to me as those memories and now we have another one from when we were both adults."
- okwerq
Sent Gifts
"One year I couldn't go home for Christmas so I sent my dad five pack of super bright LED flashlights just because I knew he would shine them in my brothers' eyes throughout the entire day. This is the equivalent of buying your brother's kid a noisy toy."
Side Pocket
time shot GIF
Giphy
"Best 'gift' I got my Dad was taking him out for a few drinks so we could talk and shoot some pool. It's an annual thing now."
Pool? You can play pool anytime, suddenly its a holiday celebration. Well to each their own. I know really it's about quality time. That's so... motherly. ;)
In his Image
Bobblehead GIF by Purdue Sports
Giphy
"I once made my dad a bobblehead of himself out of air-dry clay. It wasn't the best quality because I hadn't ever made a bobblehead before, but he LOVED it. He cried (a rare occurrence) and then showed everyone he knew."
Memories
"Spending time and making memories. My Dad just died last week somewhat unexpectedly. I was able to see him and spend time before he passed which I will treasure forever. My Dad and I would make a point of just hanging out together on Father's day and do stuff."
"We did train rides, boat rides, plane rides. Sometimes just driving around and having dinner. The point was just to enjoy each other's time. I don't remember any physical gifts I gave him. But those memories of spending the day and doing awesome stuff I will keep with me forever. Miss you Dad ♥️"
"Edit: Wow, I had no idea this would blow up like this. Thank you all for the kind words and awards. Reading all of your stories about your own Dad's brings so many good tears. I am so lucky to have had such a great Dad and even luckier to tell him that before he passed . For those of you who didn't have a good Dad or didn't have one at all, be that Dad. To your kids, to your nieces and nephews, to your friends kids. Hell even to the neighborhood kids. It matters."
A Beautiful Day
"Spend the day with him doing something he likes. The best Father's Day gift I got recently was a day at a streetcar museum with my three kids. I love museums, I love ice cream, and I love just spending the day with no pressure. I've been trying to get my daughter interested in golfing, with no success."
"The best gift I could get at this point would be for her to humor me for a bit and come with me to a driving range. Even if she never plays golf again, I would always remember that day like I will always remember the streetcar museum."
Blah Blah
"My stepdad is the most boring guy who channels the energy of Hank Hill's gang. Super hard to buy for. The only thing he would possibly want is expensive tools but he buys that stuff for himself. One year I got him a new trash can (he really likes emptying the garbage) filled with his favorite stuff--paper towels, Boraxo hand soap, peanuts, Top Ramen, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol. He loved it."
Never Alone
Lisa Simpson Hug GIF by The Simpsons
Giphy
"I see a lot of leave me alone. I don't want to be left alone. Probably the best would be for them to set up some sort of outdoors activity."
"Like a slip and slide or something. And I can just watch them play. Then they bbq, which they can't do, but I'll help them. Maybe watch a movie together that night. Low key. Restful day and we spend it together."
Sounds like every parent is really after the same things. Yes, they all enjoy quiet time, but being surrounded by love and good company is always the way to go.
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Love is crazy. I've finally come to that conclusion. And marriage, you take your life in your hands and just throw caution to the wind in hopes of survival with that step.
When love falls apart, things can get real messy, real fast. And I've always been stunned by people's behavior when love subsides.
More often than not, it's like they become different people. Sometimes people are beset by tragedy and grief and sometimes people smile wide and move on. It's a coin toss.
But my favorite post divorce personality has to be the sudden super villain. Oh honey watch out for them!
Redditor u/hyperyog wanted to hear all the tea from the divorcees out there by asking:
Divorced Redditors, what is the craziest thing you or your former spouse did after divorce?
I once had a friend who burned her ex's house down when he wasn't home. He had started seeing someone almost immediately, so she thought, lemme set their sparks. Yeah, she wasn't well. Whatever happened to just a quick goodbye?
Swiped
dean winters crying GIF by MayhemGiphy"She removed the retaining clips for my windshield wipers, but put the wipers back on the arms. First storm after I got my car back from her, driver side wiper flew off the car on Interstate 40. Good times."
Sicko!
"He wrote suicide notes and put them in my kids backpacks for them/me to find. Then he turned off his phone and went to a coworkers house to play crib and have drinks.. all the while knowing I would be freaking out searching for him thinking he was in danger or worse. Thankfully my kids didn't see the notes and didn't know what was going on. This was just one of the many, many crazy things he did. Two years out and he just recently stopped showing up at my work and driving by my house at night."
A Sad End
"Died of a drug overdose. To be fair, her drug addiction was the reason for the divorce, so maybe that isn't too crazy."
"That's so incredibly difficult to have gone through. I unfortunately know the depths of this kind of pain, and while I'm sure the circumstances surrounding it are different, the loss that still happened is a tragedy. My condolences."
Bye Girl
"Stalked me for 5 years. Would make fake social media profiles to try to follow me (which I would block endlessly) and would try to find where I worked so she could talk to me. This lady cheated on me with 7 different men 2 months after we were married. I kicked her a** to the curb and made her sign the court papers."
"When we had our day in court she cried in the judges office while I just wanted to get this crap done. After, my dad was with me and he threw 50 dollars at her and told her to "change your freaking last name." Good guy Pops. I haven't seen or heard from her in about 5 years, thank goodness."
- Letharos
Take it All!
skin care spinning GIF by Primal Life OrganicsGiphy"I had an ex-boyfriend go through my apartment and take back every gift he had given me that he could find. Then he went in my bedside table and took the condoms. And the vibrator he had given me."
See now, when I'm out... I'm out! I don't want to see you, hear from you or know you. I wish you well in life, but please live it far from me. Anyone agree? Clearly not the people here. Let's continue...
For the Boy
bicycling father and son GIF by NETFLIXGiphy"All I wanted was custody of my son, I gave her everything else except one of our cars. She fought me through 5 hearings, I won. She never came to see him again."
Dangerous Woman
"My ex cheated on me the week my mom died in the hospital. She spent a year and a half trying to get in touch with me. She would call my old work and make fake accounts trying to message me on FB. It was insane. She later sends a certified letter explaining she was sorry that she did what she did and that she aborted our child."
"Wanted me to meet her somewhere so she could apologize face to face. She already married some other guy that she had children with and was still trying to get in touch with me. I never understood her."
- orstius
Be Gone
"After years of telling me she wanted a child, that she wanted to be a mom, that her life's dream was to be a stay at home mom, she got pregnant with the first guy she slept with while we were getting divorced and put the kid up for adoption even before it was born. This was a long-standing thing with her, she always wanted something (car, house, dog, cat, marriage, etc) and the second she got it she immediately hated it."
The "Actor"!
"Called me and pretended he had been hit by a car while we were talking. He even tried to voice the crowd that had gathered around his "body." God-awful acting, but pretty funny listening to him try to mimic a woman's voice. Points for trying to be inclusive, I guess."
"I think he was trying to get me to re-live my trauma of being on the phone with a friend who actually HAD been hit by a car while we were talking. Too bad he didn't realize that hearing the real thing is worlds different than hearing a dumba** try to act it out."
Money Blues
"I was sending 600 dollars a month to support my daughter because she's the only thing I give a sh!t about. My ex texts me and tells me I need to be sending 1200 a month because she's broke and can't pay her bills and I should feel guilty about it. She left me for another guy while I was on deployment I told her to go screw herself--call my lawyer."
Pop Off
Tom Hanks Drinking GIF by The Good FilmsGiphy"Took the sodas from the fridge as he walked out the door. Dumfounded."
See, I blame Alanis Morissette and her "Jagged Little Pill" album. All I'm going to say is... the secret song. I think she gave people ideas. (I love that song) Y'all, seek therapy if you can't shake people. When it's done, let it be done.
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