12 Gifts Guys Secretly Want for Father’s Day

I got my dad some homemade apple butter from a farmer’s market in Texas this past weekend whilst on a trip. I definitely got my sweet tooth from him. Hope he enjoys it!

Dreaming The Beatles is for moms too. :) Just finished it and it is an incredible read. Took me back to my Beatles-obsessed teen years in the 90s. As Rob argues in the book, The Beatles are for every generation. Thanks, Mo!

My partner loves to eat, so I made a reservation at Ushiwakamaru. I also bought the new Lego Optimus Prime that we will attempt to put together as a family if only our kiddo doesn’t shove us out of the way!
And we have to celebrate on the Saturday since he works in food (butcher shop) so if I can spin the Mermaid Parade as a family outing maybe he will indulge. Ha.

Late to the party but hopefully not too late to leave a helpful tip!
When my oldest was itty bitty, I started a Father’s Day tradition where I bought new kids books (reading was and still is a primary bonding activity for them) and hid them around the house- scavenger hunt style for my partner and kiddo to find and read together. Each book would have the next clue for the following book at the end and after the final book, I usually led them to a sweet treat to share.
It’s been a fun tradition to recreate each year without having to reinvent the wheel every time.
For anyone in need of a Father’s Day gift idea, feel free to take this one and make it yours!

Just commenting to say I bought my male partner one of the Rains (shorter) jackets, and he LOVES it. It gets lots of compliments, is indeed very light, and has a stylish fishtail to the back.

Just ordered a set of 12 mini photo magnets from Pinhole Press (learned about them through CoJ!). Best part – I personalized 4 for my dad, 4 for my stepdad, and 4 for my husband. A three-in-one gift!

https://pinholepress.com/photo-magnet-set

in the midst of this early summer season i completely spaced fathers day sneaking up. thanks to you, as i guzzled my morning coffee I was able to click click click and wha-la, father’s day gifts are good, covered and on their way (on time)!!! it takes a village, i am happy you are part of mine!

We always get my dad flowers. He loves them.

This year I’m adding in a Tales.com gift certificate – they’ll record him telling stories and make a podcast episode with them that we can have forever.

I got my husband a sweet card and am looking at a gift certificate to a stretching studio. He’s athletic and is always stretching, so I think he’d like some assisted stretches and to learn some new moves to stay loose and limber!

Remembering an older CoJ post, men are rarely given flowers as presents and I think that’d be a lovely idea!

I dont know if I’m happy or sad that I can totally ignore this celebration

@zoe I really appreciate how you framed this. For me, occasion based gift giving is not my love language. I love being generous, especially around food or my labor. Helping a friend with gardening or moving, treating family and friends to meals, etc. I also like the practice of giving someone something of mine they’ve complimented.
The pressure is real, though. I think some people expect gifts and it feels so forced to me. Buying something just for the ritual and knowing many of these gifts are just going to end up in a landfill one day.
The gifts of time and food are the absolute best in my opinion.

My kids are small so usually I let my husband sleep in as long as he wants, the kids make cards or fill out those funny forms saying stuff about their dad (11 years old, job is washing dishes and getting the frisbee off the roof) and we will go eat his favorite food or go to his favorite boba place. This is also usually the time he might get more of a splurgy board game that’s been on his wish list.

This hot sauce box subscription was a huge hit last year: https://www.fuegobox.com/collections/gift-subscriptions

And it was 100% for him since our daughter and I do not like spicy things!

Love these ideas! Your Father’s Day always co-inside with my husband’s birthday so feels like a gift guide specially for him. Then have ideas up my sleeve for our Father’s Day in September.

The first Father’s Day after our third son was born, I made my husband a little, wooden hanging sign that says “we love you” and had all three sons put their handprints all over it (in different colors so we knew who was who). Then, I took a picture of them holding it and framed it. We’ve done that for every Father’s Day since and added our daughter’s little handprint when she came along. Each year the set up is a bit different: pictures of them with Daddy throughout the year with the sign pic in the middle, pics of them on their birthdays & sign pic in the middle, etc. One year it was a picture of the boys all dressed in their superhero costumes that they wore every day. That’s one of my favorites.

My husband loves it & looks forward to the new picture every year.

I got my dad a subscription to Car and Driver magazine. He’s the hardest to buy for so this is something he’ll love, but would never buy for himself.

My husband works somewhat long hours and doesn’t take a lot of time for himself, so for Father’s Day I made a reservation to go camping for two nights. We’re planning to do one night as a family with our two young kids, and then the second night he’ll get to be on his own and relax.

The mug reminds me of one of my all-time fave parenting anecdotes, from my ex. One Mother’s Day eve, her dad took her little 6-year-old brother to the Hallmark store when they had the big wall of mugs, and told him he could pick out any.mug.he.wanted. Cut to the next day, when their mom opens up her gift in front of the whole extended family, with the son looking up adoringly in anticipation, and reads out loud “#1 LOVER…thank you…honey…!!!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I ordered a harness for my dad’s binoculars so on his hikes he can have easy access to them without them banging around on his chest. He is going to be so cute and old man!

I would love to find my husband a pair of loose, casual lightweight linen pants. I welcome ideas!

That seat cushion is AMAZING! I bought one at the beginning of the pandemic to work from my hard dining room chair and it was a revelation. Now I keep in the car, it makes long drives so much more comfortable. I don’t have any particular physical ailment, but it made me realize how uncomfortable my butt and back were most of the time.

My husband and I both read that Beatles book earlier this year after a mild obsession brought on by the Get Back documentary. It’s really good! Alex is right!

Every Father’s Day, we have a tradition of a scavenger hunt around our neighborhood. We’re lucky to live in a walkable neighborhood by the beach, so every Father’s Day, I’ll make a little booklet that has clues like “Something round” or “something yummy” and we’ll spend the day on an adventure walking around town. It’s such a fun experience gift, and my husband looks forward to it every year!

I’m getting my husband an extra copy of his car key, since he sometimes locks his key in his car. I’m also watching the kids extra because he wants to work overtime to earn some cash. Just some ideas. =) I love these lists and do occasionally make purchases through them.