WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’
It’s Father’s Day and being a parent is a colossal achievement. One of the greatest accomplishments of my life has been being the “Dad.”
I started adult life as a dad and have been a parent ever since. My children have always been the center of my universe and sometimes my entire universe — often to the chagrin of others such as adult social groups, drinking establishments and some upscale dinner houses (read “I’m sorry sir we don’t have a children’s menu.”)
About the beginning of the 20th century, a lady named Sonora Dodd is credited with starting the movement to establish a nationally recognized day for honoring fathers. In 1924 the federal government finally acknowledged the request and the third Sunday in June was dedicated as Father’s Day.
Now everyone wants to get on board and celebrate “Dad.” There are all kinds of advertisements for unique gifts out there because, frankly, we can only wear so many ties and a certain amount of some colognes are considered toxic waste.
We dream about our misspent youths and Ferrari automobiles or Caribbean vacations, but not too many of us have children with bank accounts that allow them to give such lavish gifts. Usually reality is the paper plate photo frame for my desk or the painted handprint daisy dated with a year and bearing a photo for the center.
Some of the more reasonable choices this year are grill gadgets for the manly art of searing raw meat over open flames, reclining chairs for those miniscule amounts of time when we can actually relax or some great tools for our garage/workshop, and collectibles.
There are drills, saws, sanders and paint sprayers for those special projects, and dad certainly shouldn’t take on a project with a wimpy tool. Kobalt Tools, available exclusively at Lowe’s, are specifically designed to be extremely user friendly, comfortable and, most importantly, tough, said Carisa Turner, a company representative. Whether your dad is a do-it-yourself pro or just likes to dabble in home repair projects, Kobalt will help him finish a project faster and easier than ever before.
Clauss introduced a great idea in utility knives called the “SpeedPak.” It has a revolutionary new way to load the blades in a cartridge package without cutting your fingers. “They are in a clear cartridge so you can see which blades you are loading and they are safely tucked away from falling out all over the tool box,” said Rick Constantine, senior director of marketing for Acme United Corp., Clauss’ parent company, while visiting the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas recently.
For the backyard chef there is the Grill Daddy or the Grill Daddy Pro, both of which are a type of grill brush with a built-in water container to spray on the hot grill as you scrub with the heavy-duty stainless steel wire bristles. It makes cleaning the grill a breeze and is eco-friendly, too, since it uses only water.
There are reprints of World War II Popular Mechanics magazines available from Sterling Publishing with ideas for book ends, desks and pencil holders as well as many, many classes for dads and their kids at the local Home Depot and Lowe’s.
For those rare moments when dad gets a chance to catch his breath, there are special chairs from La-Z-Boy recliners. “A recliner is a natural fit for dad because of its historical reputation as his favorite chair,” said Penny Eudy, product manager of upholstery for La-Z-Boy. “This year a durable recliner — especially a customizable one with so many adjustment options — is a particularly great gift as families look for ways to make their dollars last.”
There are Major League Baseball crystal collectibles available from Steuben Glass. “The pieces make the perfect Father’s Day gift for any baseball-loving dad and are a good way to incorporate your favorite sports team into your home. Each piece can be customized with any of the 30 MLB team logos, names, dates or other inscriptions,” according to Amanda Hutt, speaking for Steuben Glass.
The choices go on and on but the reality is, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that 12.9 million families in the United States are single-parent families and about 2 million of those are male-parent families. So there are a lot of dads out there who either cannot or will not be honored and loved this Father’s Day.
So maybe the paper plate picture frames made with crayons and paste and lots of love are not so bad because my child’s picture is there. And even though they are getting older and will soon have their own families and kids, I will always be “The Dad.”
