Father’s Day Gift Guide

Father's Day Gift Guide

Father’s Day. The hardest gift giving day of the year. Because what do you get the man that has everything? And by everything, clearly I mean the most wonderful children ever. Dads are so much harder to buy for than moms, in my opinion. Maybe it’s because once you realize your dad isn’t actually a good golfer, you need to stop getting him his annual box of golf balls to end up in a sand trap. Or maybe it’s because when dads want things, they just buy them for themselves. With Father’s day just a week away, I’ve pulled together some of my go-to gifts for Dads to help you find that perfect gift for the man who has everything.

For Skip (my dad) there are a few go-to’s that you can’t go wrong with. Some of our favorite gifts for him are:

  • A Boston College Polo Shirt – because who doesn’t want a constant reminder that they shelled out hundreds of thousands for his kids college educations
  • Scotch or Whiskey – because no one will refuse any color Johnny Walker
  • Anything from LLBean – because the man should be an LLBean model by now. #dockshoes4life
  • Anything Inigo Montoya related from The Princess Bride – because anything else would be inconceivable!

But every now and then I like to put my brain to good use and try to find a creative gift for my dad to mix things up a bit. And now that this is my brother’s first year as a father, I had to do double duty in my search for good gifts this year.

1. Custom Rocks Glasses – I’ve been obsessed with all things City Prints Map Art since my brother got me a custom Boston College map from there for my housewarming gift a few years back. For Christmas this year I got my dad these custom rocks glasses with Yankee Stadium on them, so that he can be extra classy drinking his sunset scotch on the Cape this summer. Last year for Father’s Day we got him a set of wooden coasters with all different baseball stadiums on them. They also have a huge selection of custom prints, cufflinks, reclaimed wooden panels and more, so you can definitely find a unique gift for that special man in your life.

2. NY Times Custom Baseball Book – I stumbled upon the Uncommon Goods website around Christmas time last year when I was in search of some unique gifts for my dad and brother. I am pretty sure I google searched “unique gifts for dad and brother” and landed there. They have TONS of great ideas, including the City Prints rocks glasses too. I come from a family of diehard Yankees fans, so when I came across this NY Times Custom Baseball Book I knew it would be something that Skip didn’t already have. You can get them for other sports teams as well, or even blueprints of your favorite baseball park.

3. Father’s Day Card – It goes without saying that if nothing else, you need to remember to send your dad a card for Father’s Day. No matter what day it is – Christmas, Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, a random Tuesday – I LOVE all of Emily McDowell’s cards. She has an entire hilarious collection just dedicated to Father’s Day cards. I typically buy in bulk from her website so I’m all set in advance of holidays and birthdays, but I’ve also been finding a lot of her cards in random stories around Boston and the Cape lately as well. You can see all the local retailers that carry her cards here.

4. Mistaken Lyrics Cups – Ever since I discovered Mistaken Lyrics coasters last summer, I am on a mission to find all things mistaken lyrics. My sister likes to make fun of me often because I never know the words to ANY song. I’m still convinced the opening lines to Circle of Life are just “himanana yippa yippa nah nah” and I sing it with gusto. These Mistaken Lyrics stainless steel glasses are perfect for dad, because we all know dad’s can’t sing, but they like to drink beer … and the more beer they drink, the worse their singing gets. My favorite mistaken lyrics mugs are definitely the “Hold Me Closer Tony Danza” and “Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese, Who am I to Disagree.”

5. Funny Socks – I don’t know what it is with guys and socks, but they will pay a LOT of money to wear colorful fancy socks. I guess this is like the mani/pedi equivalent for men. These particular socks are the ones I got my brother for Father’s Day this year, because they are shark socks that look like the shark is eating his ankles. Hilarious. We also have this never-ending inside family joke around that Baby Shark song that we used to sing as kids, which has resulted in my nephew owning every single piece of baby clothing that has a shark on it. If your dad is classier than shark socks, I also recommend this Sock of the Month club, which sends fancy socks every month.

At the end of the day, remember that as long as it’s bought with love your dad will love it. He has to. It’s part of the law of being a dad. And for the record, Skip got another polo shirt from us this year from Disney World. And he loved it.

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