Make Father's Day Memorable: Give the Gift of Your Attention

June 14, 2016

7

min read

With Father’s Day coming closer, we are faced with the annual brainstorm of how to show your father just how much he means to you. Two weeks ago my grandfather passed away at the age of 98. He lived a great and purposeful life. He was truly one of the most loving and supportive father figures I had growing up since I lost my father at the young age of 6. I was looking through old photo's of my grandfather to find ones to share with my family during our time of grieving and I wanted to share it with you because of the profound effect it had on me. This picture hit me like a ton of bricks. When I contrast myself as a baby in my grandfather's hands and then look at the picture of myself today as a father holding my precious 22-month old daughter, I realized truly how fragile and fast life really is! I also gained a real respect for the circle of life. We should never take our loved ones for granted and should send them all our love while we are together.

Father’s Day has a habit of involving gifts that don’t truly hold any purpose and tend to get thrown in the back of the closet. With this being said, our team wants to help you by offering fun, creative, and memorable father’s day gift suggestions that will be put to good use. Making memories are important for families, especially when so many seniors suffer memory loss as they grow older. Whether you live down the street from your dad or across the country, here are some great gift ideas that can show your gratitude from any location. Make your Father’s Day memorable.

If you and your dad live near each other then these suggestions should be helpful in deciding how to make this father’s day better than the last. Be sure to take a photo or two to share with family and friends. Another way to make a special time with your father memorable is to do a video chat with a grandchild or friend who is traveling or lives far away. Today’s technology makes connecting with one another so easy, and it is even easier when at least one of you is tech-smart or has good vision.

Crack open some peanuts with your pop at a local baseball game (or watch a game together on TV at home or at a restaurant). If your dad has a smartphone, compare and share sports apps. Do you have a favorite?
Spoil him with tickets to his favorite bands concert.
Treat him with a gift card to the movie theater. Better yet, go to the movies together so you can talk about it later.
Create a picnic stocked with nothing but his favorites. Or, if you don’t really know his favorite foods, go together to a deli or good green grocer, select items together, and picnic in a park or your Father’s porch or garden.
Have a creative side? Write a thoughtful poem that he will keep forever. Ask someone to video you reading it aloud, or at least capture your voice.
Help ease his future travels with noise cancelling headphones.
For the cooking type, personalize a cutting board or give him a gift certificate to a fancy cooking store. Visit and explore the store with him, discuss the wide variety of cooking gadgets — some are colorful, others are innovative, and a lot are simply practical.
Does he have a favorite brand of coffee or tea? Or does he go to a special coffee shop?
Demonstrate your top smartphone apps that he might find useful. Ask him to show you his favorite apps, too!
Ask him to make a list of his least favorite chores and volunteer to do them — or have them done for him. For example, if mowing the lawn is getting harder for him, mow the lawn or hire a service. If cleaning or cooking difficult, possibly due to low-vision or dementia, consider hiring a cleaning service. Hire or help your father to do so – do the research, make the calls, and make the decisions together.

If you live in another state there are still many great ways to show you care. A couple ideas to make Father's Day memorable from afar could be:

Sending a care package with all the things that remind you of him: movies, candies, old pictures, things from your childhood.
Buying him a plane ticket to come spend a week or weekend with you.
A subscription of a custom monthly club such as wine of the month, dinner of the month, hot sauce of the month, or create your own! If your father has special dietary preferences or needs, there are local and online food services that specialize. Today, it is easy to search online to find services that provide meals for vegetarians and people with diabetes, for example.
Burn him a CD of songs that bring back great memories — music of the 40s, 50s, 60s, or music by favorite artists. Another option is to give him a subscription to satellite radio (like siriusXM radio) so he can listen to his favorite music stations – this is especially useful in more remote locations.
Give him a subscription to Audible so he can download an endless supply of books to listen to — and that you can discuss over the phone. If you are both readers, this could be the start of a family book club. After all, books are more interesting to discuss than the weather or today’s aches and pains!
Create a personalized puzzle of your hometown. If your father is a fan of jigsaw puzzles, consider having one made that would include subject matter he likes and is the same number and size of puzzle pieces he is accustomed to so you don’t make it too easy or too challenging.
Create a framed family ancestry tree. Is your father researching his family history? Would he like a subscription to a service like Ancestry.com or 23andme (DNA search)? There are also ancestry apps from iTunes and Google.

Note: If your parent has caregiver assistance, be sure to ask for ideas that work best for one and all! Conditions change, so be ready to change your expectations, too!

CareLinx encourages you to take these suggestions and make them your own. Make some wonderful memories. This Father’s Day is the time to show your father just how much he means to you, and we hope that our recommendations can do just that. How will you make Father’s Day memorable? Here’s to all the new dads, old pops, and grandpas! Enjoy!