When the warm weather comes around every year, my family spends the majority of our free time outdoors. From dinners on the back patio to wiffle ball games in the freshly cut grass, summer is our cue to get outside and enjoy the weather.
Sometimes I happen to glimpse the glow of delight on my Dad’s face as we enjoy a meal on the deck he built or run across his perfectly striped lawn. Although he never asks for large displays of appreciation for his hard outdoor work, this year there is a simple gift capable of showing him you notice all of the effort he exerts in making your outdoor summer adventures come alive.
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Looking at the pile of ties and sports memorabilia in the back closet, you may realize as I have that Father’s Day gifts present quite the challenge. Sure, a nice engraved ballpoint pen fills the gift requirement, but its future of collecting dust just does not seem practical. If your Dad is anything like mine, getting outside and running around remains on the top of his to-do list. Pens, ties, and posters simply don’t fit his lifestyle.
I remember playing catch with my Dad when I was younger, shooting hoops until the sun went down, and kicking a soccer ball at the net as he pretended to guard against its entrance with all his might. He always wore the same worn-out sneakers, plain t-shirt, and navy blue Boston Red Sox hat with worn edges. As I sat back and thought about the memories, I suddenly knew exactly what to get him this year.
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Dads serve as role models not only in their families, but also in their communities. Nationwide they make a difference through coaching sports teams, supporting local causes, and lending a helping hand. The Sears Blue Tool Crew recently announced the latest in their series of “Do it Together” initiatives. Highlighting the unsung fatherly heroes, the current contest seeks to appreciate the hard work and exemplary deeds that often go unnoticed on a daily basis.
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Parents Behaving Badly - by Scott Gummer
An overzealous parent screaming on the side of the little league field is an iconic image of kid’s sports in America today. Scott Gummer analyzes how parents navigate the complex emotions that are tied to youth sports today with shocking wit, humor, and truth in his book, “Parents Behaving Badly”.
The book is centered around Ben and Jili Holden whose lives take a surprising turn when Ben is challenged to coach his sons little league team, following in the footsteps of his iconic father known notoriously around their small community as Couch.
As Ben struggles between coming to terms with his past relationship with his father, and his new role as parent coach he encounters both the joys and horrors that make up youth sports in America. Besides being laugh-out-loud hilarious, the book takes a frank look at urban America and the struggles parents face growing up along side their children.
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With the weather warming up and various spring projects underway, my Dad can now be seen turning in his suit jackets for t-shirts and his slacks for work jeans. Everyday after work he spends hours outside helping my Mom with yard work or completing the various do-it-yourself projects on our house. Needless to say with all this warm weather and hard work my Dad could use a little bit of sprucing up at the end of the day.
With Father's day coming up I wanted to find him a grooming kit that he could enjoy and relax with. I came across the Double Play Kit from Every Man Jack. Every Man Jack, based in San Francisco, offers personal care products for men made entirely from eco-friendly ingredients giving guys only what they need and nothing they don’t. The Double Play Kit includes everything a guy would require from shaving scrubs and lotions to body bars and deodorant. It even comes with a bonus lip balm complete with SPF 15 to keep those lips from getting sunburned in these upcoming summer months.
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With Father’s Day approaching, the dilemma of finding an original yet fitting gift for the Dad in your life can be daunting. As a unique alternative to the average Father's Day gifts of ties and coffee mugs - take a look at the Weston Leather Cigar Case from RedEnvelope.
This leather case can fit easily within a coat or pant pocket for carrying cigars on the go and it comes with a personally engraved lighter and stainless steel cigar cutter. It stores up to three cigars at a time so the recipient can carry their cigars without worrying about them being crushed or damaged in their pocket or briefcase. The mahogany colored leather makes this cigar holder look and feel classy.
I know my Dad will love it because he's a frequent cigar smoker (really, what better way to unwind after a stressful week?) but he also loves to take weekend trips and only has those stupid plastic tubes to store his cigars. With this leather case his cigars will be safe, he'll look extremely cool (very difficult) and his initialed custom lighter will say, "Yes - I'm a professional man of leisure, out of my way."
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Just in time for Father's Day, consider these cool books from McGraw-Hill for the Dad who likes to read, instead of that boring old tie again.
Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence
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As Americans we often become all too comfortable in our everyday lifestyles. We wake up, go to work, coach our kids sports teams, and push the repeat button. Martin Gower artistically crafted reality with fiction to create his tale of North Korea and its “Dear Leader” that is both eye-opening and jaw-dropping for the average citizen of our often sheltered country. Suddenly, you may be thankful that soccer practices are even allowed to exist.
The “Dear Leader” is a dictator who rose to power on the foundation of propaganda, security, and manipulation. The tight web of political intricacies twists morality into an unidentifiable form that Martin Gower is seemingly attempting to expose.
This book, Maximum Target, is a fictional account of a mission to assassinate the “Dear Leader”. The team is composed of Jun, Kang, and Sam. Each extremely different from the other, culturally and idealistically, the three come together with a common goal of conquering the dictator.
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As a father, it is difficult to always know how your actions affect your children, if what you do is the right thing and overall if your identity is that of a good dad. Kevin Renner was continuously asking himself these questions as he lost confidence in his own ability to live up to the role.
But what was the definition of a ‘good dad’? Renner decided to embark on a journey to understand fatherhood from the other side of the equation- the daughter’s perspective.
Through his interviews of 50 women from around the world, he was confronted with tales of joy and horror, tales both uplifting and heartbreaking.
The small stories within In Search of Fatherhood place the role of being a dad in a perspective that makes reading more than a simple pastime. The stories possess depth, personality, and the capability of leaving readers changed.
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