Before thinking about a unique gift for your dad for Father’s Day, let’s delve a little deeper and look below the surface to see what kind of dad he really is.
They’re a funny old species Dads. We know that they come in all shapes and over-sizes but they also come in weird and wonderful characters.
1. The Handyman Dad
He’s out of bed at the call of the rooster. He puts on cargo shorts (with beloved Leatherman in its holster), pops his trusty pencil behind his ear and it’s time to get to work. This Daddy Fix-It knows how to solve any problem and his favourite phrase is ‘I’ll just get my toolbox’. He’s built furniture out of trees felled by a lightning strike, always mends before he buys, and believes he’s as good as any tradesman out there, regarding the ‘thieves’ known as ‘professionals’ with utter disdain.
2. The Proud & Sentimental Dad
Boy, he loves to talk about you and your achievements. He just can’t help himself. From those miraculous first steps you took, to that historical egg-and-spoon race victory, he’s been 100% behind you, shouting your successes from the rooftops (and indirectly stating how good your genes are thanks to him). He’s the first to blub at those old photos of you, commending ‘how they grow up so quickly’ and later will be found sobbing uncontrollably into his hankie at your graduation.
3. The Sports Dad
Life rotates around The Team who are (almost) as dear to him as his own flesh and blood. Watching The Game is a religion and you are his congregation where attendance is obligatory. Convert or be damned. This dad has the ability to recollect a shot-by-shot account of what happened in the 33rd minute of any game in the history of his team, in his sleep. He has also willingly sacrificed his entire memory storage capacity to seemingly random sports statistics. This means he never remembers where he left anything, but it’s a small price to pay.
4. The Road Trip Dad
Life’s all about the family outing for this dad. The night before the big day out, you see him hunched over his map, planning the route down to the last minute with rest stops, pee stops and petrol stops all precisely integrated. The family will be woken at dawn for a military style briefing. Adventure parks, safari parks, mountain parks, any parks, you know them all within a 500 km radius of home.
5. The Party-on Dad
This dad isn’t the type of man to let a few kids ruin his active social life. Hell no. When mum’s not around, he’s pretty flexible with child care and if a random stranger can rear the kids whilst he’s off to Ibiza, Glastonbury or the Burning Man Festival, it’s win-win. His motto is Carpe-diem and he can sniff out a freshly made mojito from a mile away. Does his ever slow down? Never.
6. The Workaholic Dad
Hard work works. From dawn till dusk he soldiers on, labouring for his family to keep them fed, schooled, and clothed (not in that order). On the weekend he often struggles to transition to recreation mode and can be seen in the local park buried in his work whilst his little boy is up a tree suspended upside down by the elastic on his pants.
7. The Playful Pop
He’s one of the kids and refused to leave his childhood behind when he became an adult – so it’s debatable that he actually became one. To him becoming a dad just made it socially acceptable to be childish again. He’s still climbing trees, dressing-up as Captain America and playing tag. He can be found by the trail of snapped seesaws and broken swings that he leaves behind in his wake.
8. The Coach Dad
His parenting style may be intense and a little overwhelming at times, but he knows how to get what matters. Results. Never far away from his stopwatch, he taught you that you could be anything you wanted from a Muay Thai champion to the next Steve Jobs – as long you approach it with 3 weeks of pre-season training and a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice.
9. The Joker Dad
Laughter and smiles are what makes his world go around. His joke repertoire is rarely as impressive as the fact that after years of home stand-up he still finds them so hilarious. Growing up, he was the funniest dude on Earth to you. Today, the ‘I ordered a chicken and egg from Amazon…I’ll let you know’, or his ‘pull my finger’ gag are wearing thin, but you wouldn’t love him as much any other way.
10. The Professor Dad
He filled you with a love of learning from an early age. You made your first bicarbonate of soda volcano erupt aged 2, you were reciting Shakespeare by 4 and on to quantum physics by Primary. He taught you that curiosity was an itch that needed to be scratched and that you had to ask the question ‘why?’ a minimum of 6 times in a row. Only then would you get to the root of the answer and be taking your first step towards tackling the great unsolved mysteries of the universe.
So which sums up your dad best? Whether he’s one of the above, a glorious mix, or none — All Dads do have two things in common:
1. Deep, deep down they all love you like nothing else in the universe but often struggle to show it, or show it in their own unique way.
2. Because of 1, they appreciate whatever you give them on Father’s Day. They don’t complain so they rarely get a second thought that could lead to a gift beyond the socks or tie.
Next week, we will attempt to match your Dad type to his perfect Father’s Day gift… This is a highly scientific process that doesn’t involve the word socks.
Meanwhile, have a sneak preview at the line up of unique personalised gifts in our Father’s Day shop.
