Does
anyone really know what to buy their father?
I know I spent years not knowing.
That’s why as a kid I fell into the same gift pattern many do and bought
my businessman father ties for every gift giving holiday there was.
At
first I tried to find nice ones, but later when I was old enough to realize he
only wore them because he had to and not because he wanted to...I got a little
cruel. I would find ties with the
craziest prints or the ugliest color combinations and give to him with a
straight face and innocently ask if he liked them. The poor man would gush and wear that ugly
tie at the breakfast table the next morning and surprisingly was still wearing
it when he walked in the door for dinner.
Years
later, when I finally started to get to know my father as a man with interests
outside me and my brothers, gift giving became a little less formal, but I
often kept the tradition alive by wrapping his concert tickets or DVD box set
in a hideous pink tie. Last Christmas he
even started giving them back. Each one
of my brothers and I got a tie in our stocking. My brothers were going to give theirs away
but I took them home instead. I figure
with a few more holidays I’ll have enough of those old ties to make something
like the tie wreath I recently found on Pintrest.
But
until then I need to find a way to incorporate a tie into this year’s father’s
Day gift. And while I found tons of cute
ideas including one where children paint their handprints on a white tie, my
favorite was a simple greeting card made from scrapbook paper. Using a legal size patterned paper, fold to
look like a dress shirt then adding a knotted piece of paper for the tie. (The exact instructions can be found on
marthastewart.com).
Just
remember, no matter what you give him, your dad’s sure to gush and use it
proudly, but it just wouldn’t be Father’s day without a little bit of patterned
silk. Even if you just use it to wrap a
six pack.
Love
you Dad!
Jenn.
