In June of 1988 a young kindergarten student returned from his morning class. He walked quietly into his home and hurried to his drawer. Into his drawer he put something that he had brought home from school. On Father’s Day he took that item out of his drawer.
The boy’s teacher had had each of her students prepare special “coupons.” Each “coupon” given to the father was meant to serve as a promise, a promise that the child would perform a certain task. One coupon promised help with raking leaves, and another coupon promised help with washing the car.
Such coupons offer a glimpse of the sort of thing that can please a single father. Those coupons are the sort of gift the does not require a large investment of time and money. The preparation of the gift can be done at home, or at a grandparents’ residence.
The same boy gave his father a different sort of gift in June of 1994, the year he completed sixth grade. That year the boy took a shop class. He made all sorts of things out of wood. He designed a wooden tool box for his father.
Such a gift would please any single father. The father could enjoy the gift, and he could learn from the gift something about what his son was doing at school. Even a girl can make a suitable gift for a single father. The boy who made that tool box also made for himself a pillow, a pillow that he used to decorate his room. The pillow displayed the symbols of several football teams.
Children should take the time to note the needs of their father. Maybe he has difficulty remembering when his children have a Parent’s Night at school. Maybe he keeps forgetting the date of a son’s or daughter’s soccer game. His children could get him a big calendar.
Does the father struggle with laundry? Maybe he could use an easier way to transport clothes to the Laundromat. Maybe he could use more items for easy stain removal. There are items now available that seem to cater to the single father. They allow for the disguising of a missed stain. Such an item might make a good Father’s Day gift for a single father.
Does the father have trouble making a meal every night? Is the family eating a lot of fast food? Perhaps the children could find a cookbook with fast and easy dishes. Better yet, they might put together a collection of their own favorite dishes. Then they could help their father to prepare those dishes.
Would the man’s children like to help him to find and marry another woman? If that is the case, they might want to help him romance her in the home. The children could buy their father a cookbook with recipes for two. The children could then arrange to be out of the house, or busy in their rooms, on the night when their father invited a woman to his home for dinner.
Does the father have a particular hobby or interest? Maybe he used to play the trumpet. The children could take his old horn to a music store and asked to have it cleaned. Then they could give their father his cleaned trumpet on Father’s Day.
Does the father work at home? Maybe he needs something for his home office. His children might have difficulty learning what he needs, especially if he has sought to limit the amount of time that they spend in his home office. His children might need to make some inquiries, and then base a gift on the answer to those inquiries.
A single father should welcome some probing questions as Father’s Day approaches.
