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Ways To Show Your Dad Appreciation on Father’s Day

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Father’s Day is a day that every father awaits. There’s nothing more heartwarming than receiving handmade cards and gifts from your kids (they’re crudely made, but they’re full of love) and having them excitedly tell you how much you mean to them and how proud they are to have you as their dad. Parenting is often thankless work, so it can be nice to hear that you’re doing a wonderful job.

As a father, you’ll probably spend the day with your own family. But that leaves one very important person alone on this special day—the father who raised you. Instead of leaving your old man out of the celebrations, make this year special with these creative ways to show your dad appreciation on Father’s Day.

Write a Letter

Do your parents live miles away from you? You probably don’t want to go through the trouble of packing your luggage and hopping on a plane for a single day of celebration. What should you do, then?

If you can’t see your father in person on Father’s Day, take the time to pen a heartfelt letter instead. Tell your dad how much you appreciate him. Whether you send him this message through text or snail mail, he’s sure to flash a smile when reading it.

Make It Fun

Maybe you think Father’s Day should be an exciting event. Your family takes you to the beach, an expensive restaurant, or the local golf course each year to celebrate. Why not do the same for your own dad? The next way to show your dad appreciation on Father’s Day is to plan a fun activity or outing.

It doesn’t have to be on Father’s Day, but during that same week, invite your dad to spend a day with his favorite kid. There are countless things you can do and places you can go. Just make sure that whatever you’re doing is something you know that your dad will enjoy.

Celebrate Together

This momentous day in June is a time to celebrate fathers of all kinds. Instead of letting your dad celebrate on his lonesome, invite him to join your family festivities. What was that one saying? The more, the merrier.

Father’s Day is more about family than anything else. The more family you include, the livelier and more joyous it will be.

What Comes First, Kids or Marriage?

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So, you’ve found yourself in the cross-hairs of an age old dilemma.  In front of you there are two seemingly impossible choices: the clanging voices of your children, and the faint, sometimes silent, hints your wife drops when she needs your attention.  Make the wrong move and you could pay with your life!

Alright, this may be a little dramatic, but the decision is real nonetheless.  The life of a husband and father is one that requires a delicate balance.  There are a lot of things that compete for our time but none more pressing than the family.  The question is not “who do you love more,” but rather, “where should your priorities lie?”

The Un-Natural Order Of Things

In talking with other dads there seems to be a common theme in what we view to be the norm.  We gravitate towards the group whose voices are the loudest.  If you have kids, it means you probably have a laser focus on fixing whatever is making them scream.  The wife on the other hand, is usually much more subtle.  You won’t normally find her competing for your attention.  I mean seriously, she is probably outrunning you to tend to the kids any way.

Kids just have a way of becoming the focal point of the family.  Beyond the obvious reality that your children have a lot of immediate needs, their lives often become your world.  This seems like the appropriate way to go right?  Think about it…if you are truly a good parent, won’t you spend the bulk of your time pouring yourself in to raising them the right way?

Bucking The System

First, let me preface what I am about to say with me admitting that there are few things in this world that I love more than my daughters.  If you are a parent, then I am sure you’re nodding in agreement.  I also admit that raising kids is an undertaking that cannot be rivaled.  It is the most exhausting and rewarding thing that a man will ever do.  You undoubtedly need an unshakable resolve to be there for them.

However, I think we have gotten off course a bit.  There was a certain “somebody” that existed before the kids came along and one you hope will be there when they have gone.  In fact, your family was complete when you said “I do.”  It’s shocking isn’t it!  Could there actually be life outside of your children?

I would even go as far as to say that you are raising your kids with some serious deficiencies if they are the center of your universe.  If you don’t show them what a healthy marriage looks like, where will they learn it?  If dad doesn’t make it a priority to spend time with mom, then why would your kids do anything different?  Our kids need to see that our marriages carry the weight of the family.  If that fails, then the family fails.

Don’t Be A Poser

If you are serious about being a dad then do yourself a favor and don’t fake it!  Your kids won’t be ignorant forever.  Eventually they will recognize that mom and dad are just pretending.

The idea is to make sure that your kids see that mom (or dad, for you ladies out there) is a priority.  So plan dates (I suck at this one).  Make some “kid free” time at home to talk about each other’s day.  You may even want to get really crazy and spend an entire night away!

Whatever it is, be purposeful….and make sure your kids know the reason why.

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Routines…Just a Little Daddy OCD

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While I may not be overly scheduled in my personal life, I have become acutely aware of how necessary this is for my kids, my wife, and my psychological well-being.


Now, I realize that life with children does not come prepackaged.  As any dad can attest to, if there is one constant in raising kids, it is constant change.  On the other hand, most dads can also affirm the hair-pulling reality of life without some built-in ritualistic patterns.


The interesting thing however, is how versatile routine building can be.  Not only does it work for obvious tasks such as chores or pre-bedtime teeth brushing, but it also works for fun activities that may just build stronger bonds!  I know, this isn’t mind-blowing stuff but the genius is in its simplicity.  The whole point is to try to develop lasting ties that don’t sap all of our intellectual or financial resources right?


With that being said, why not mix it up a bit by creating routines around some fun things like bike rides or walks?  How about developing a regimen for story reading, playing games, or just a time for catching up?


If you are like me, it is easy to “bring the heat” when my little ones lose their minds before bed.  However, on the nights when bedtime is preempted by a Tour De France style bike ride, the chance of me needing my angry eyes is greatly reduced!

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Quality and Quantity

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Over the last couple of weeks I have spent a good deal of “alone time” with my daughters.  Between family flying in to visit and an overnight trip out of town, my wife has taken some extra, much too infrequent, time away from the kids.  While I am still convinced that my wife is especially gifted in taking on the world all at once, our trips were pretty low-key and a lot of fun for the four of us.  Now, just to clarify, when I say “out” I mean multi-hour, multi-stop, and large crowds.  I am not talking about a quick run to the store or a single stop at McDonald’s.

Okay mom’s, restrain your eye rolls for just a minute!  I know this is a regular day at the office for you but the dad’s out there can attest to the fact that not often do we venture out unaccompanied like this.  The striking thing for me was how baffled people were that I had the moxy to run around with three little girls, four years and under.  Now I understand that this is not a common occurrence for me, but I really didn’t think too much of it until I started to get the comments.  Between my wife’s bewildered gasps and the comments of a high school acquaintance who asked me, “Are you here alone with three girls”, and then turns to my daughters and says, “Wow you have a really good daddy”, it became apparent that I may have shaken the earth to its very core!  To everyone’s amazement, not a single life was lost.  In fact, there weren’t even any mystery wounds that I could not explain!

Now, I do have to come clean and say that not every second was stress free and I did have to subdue the urge to bang my head on the wall a couple of times.  However, in all seriousness, it was a great time for us!

The tragedy here is what this says about the expectation that many have regarding fatherhood.  We have run wild with this concept of quality over quantity, and let me attest to the fact that I have certainly fallen prey to this as well.  This little unexpected conquest of mine has driven home the fact that the frequency of my time spent with my daughters is equally important to the quality of time.  I want my girls to remember the special things that we do together because they were the norm, not because its easy to remember something when it happens only once or twice.

I just hope that my girls allow me to spend this kind of time with them in the years to come, even when “dad isn’t as funny or as cool as he used to be.”  I guess I also hope that they aren’t too embarrassed at the arsenal of weapons that I will be carrying with me when they get to be dating age!

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Balancing Work and Family

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For those dads out there that work outside the home there is a great deal of pressure surrounding the balance between family and work.

What are some practical suggestions that a dad can implement right away?  Where should the priority lay when work and family conflict with each other?  Can you be successful in a career, continue to advance, and still be an engaged father that participates in his children’s life?

Take a look at an article that I wrote regarding this matter….it may provide some practical advice and maybe even challenge your current approach to this issue.

Happy reading!

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