I have found that a lot of Americans dislike “Hallmark” holidays like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day because they see them as money-making schemes created to give consumers a reason to make purchases that they otherwise might not.  In contrast, my family has always made a big deal out of these holidays.  We always send cards and gifts and make phonecalls and plan weekends surrounding these holidays so that we can celebrate them properly.  It may seem silly, but I really think this is a great tradition.

These holidays always remind me to give thanks.  It’s not everyday that I really think about the people in my life like my mother and father and boyfriend and really take the time to appreciate all that they do for me.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate them everyday, but it does mean that this is a special time to put it into words or a gift or something special to express it.

Father’s Day was yesterday and it was great to see my whole family gathered in honor of my father.  We did activities and ate food that he loves and truly spent time showing him how much we care about him and the ways that he has provided for us.  We spent time on cards and gifts to truly give thanks.

Even if Father’s Day is not the holiday for you, maybe take a minute to think about these holidays that have been created in honor of relationships.  And if you don’t want a holiday to remind you of these things, then pick another day to do something special to give thanks to the people in your life who really deserve it.

Image: pipitdapo on Flickr

Happy Father’s Day! Though today’s holiday typical involves fathers of the human variety, what’s to stop dads of pets from celebrating a bit too?

True, they won’t get any sweet handmade cards with stray blobs of glue and glitter from Fluffy or Fido, but they can get one in their email inbox instead!

SloppyKissCards.com is all about pet e-cards, from dogs and cats to pretty much everything in between, including ferrets, chinchillas, and even horses. You can even choose specifically what breed you want featured on the card, and several of the categories let you upload your own pet photos to use.

Of course, it doesn’t just feature Father’s Day - they have a huge range of holidays to choose from, as well as cards for birthdays, thank you’s, thinking of you, congrats, etc. They’ve pretty much got it covered!

[image: flickr]

Since my father was a farmer, he couldn’t take Father’s day off.  However, he enjoyed taking a picnic lunch, after the milking was done and we were home from church, and going for a Sunday drive with Mother and us  four children.  He had some of his favorite back roads to explore and often would stop where we children could run and play after we ate.

Image: sxc.hu

 One of Father’s favorite picnic spots was found at the top of a cliff overlooking the Hudson River and the mid-Hudson bridge across the river from Poughkeepsie.  (We lived in a farming town 15 miles east of there.)  Father would relax in his lawn chair, enjoy his lunch, and watch the boats plying the river. 

 Mother took us children for a walk around the area.  There was a place for cars to park and trails to follow.  As the sun began dipping into the western sky, we knew it was time to pack up and drive home again.  There was always the evening milking to do, even though it was Father’s Day.  And Sunday was the hired man’s day off.

Do you have Father’s Day memories?  Are you making Father’s Day memories that you and your children will recall?

Why not make a scrapbook dedicated to Dad for Father’s Day?  You may not have it made for a gift today, but why not start one?  It can take many forms.

• For the dad of young children in the family.
• For grandfather…his life, achievements, and hobbies
• For uncles who play a special role in your children’s lives.
• For someone who has like a dad or grandfather in your family’s life.

What do you include?

• Photos of special events
• Photos, journal entries and memories
• Photos of an unfolding life
• Contributions from various family members

This can be a fun family project that recalls fond times and hard times and draws families closer together. 

I need to do one about my dad for family members, so children will remember him and his achievements.  I also must pull together photos and incidents from my husband’s life so our daughter and her children will know more about him.

Do you have any special projects surrounding the Dads in your life?

Is your dad the type of dad who dons his Father’s Day tie immediately?  If he is, then he could use one of these great aprons to protect it,  with dad-approved prints, from the Jazzy Gemini’s Shop at Etsy.

Father’s Day Motorcycle BBQ Apron
$20

This apron fits both large and small dads. It features two front pockets, including a drink holder.

Father’s Day Flaming BBQ Apron
$20

This apron features a flame print with a classic-car hot rod pocket midriff. There’s a drink holder to the side. This apron also fits dads big and small.

Image credit: Jazzy Gemini’s Shopat Etsy.com

It’s berry season! I have several different types of berries in my garden all ready to be picked, or about ready to be picked. From blueberries, to strawberries, and raspberries, I love berry season.

I think my love of berries goes back to my childhood when I used to go out with my dad and pick raspberries, strawberries, and even mulberries straight off the vine, plant, and tree. We had a great time picking, and usually ate more than we got in the pale. The berries that made it into the pale were eventually made into equally delicious desserts including pie, and fresh fruit salads.

These days whenever I go out to pick the berries I always have flashbacks to those fun memories. Maybe it’s because berry season is so close to Father’s Day and I’m thinking about dad anyway. It’s definitely fond moments I’ll treasure for the rest of my life, and one of the main reasons I still enjoy gardening today.

Image L Gerlach

I’m a terrible gift-giver and even worse card-sender. It’s not that I don’t love and care for the people who I should give them to. I do. I just can’t seem to think far enough in advance to buy a card and get it in the mail in time. Case and point – my niece’s birthday was last Friday and the card went into the mail Monday. If it weren’t for the check that I enclosed I could have probably gotten away with an e-card. I managed to send one to my father in time for his birthday earlier this year. But I should have done more. Dad’s such a great guy.

I’ve known Father’s Day has been coming for weeks but I failed, once again, to get a card in the mail. I think Dad would deserve more than that, but he has everything he could want….except maybe a chipmunk-catcher, and he’s constantly working on some type of contraption to keep them out of their garden. (He says he doesn’t kill them and he better be telling the truth!) So this year I jumped online (before the holiday, for once) and got my Dad a Basket of Hope from Heifer International’s online catalog.

I know he’s going to love it because Heifer is such a great organization that works to build sustainable communities by focusing on specific areas of emphasis that must be addressed to end world hunger and poverty. For example, that Basket of Hope I’m giving Dad is filled with chickens and rabbits (i.e. fast-multiplying livestock) that will be given to a struggling farmer who can then sell the rabbit’s offspring for extra income and use the eggs the chickens lay. He can also use the manure for his vegetable gardens. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! Makes me happy, too!

Happy Father’s Day (and belated birthday), pa!

Photo, Heifer International

Father’s Day is becoming more and more commercialized and heavily promoted. Everywhere someone looks, there are signs that say “Remember Dad” or big displays of Father’s Day cards. I usually don’t think twice about things like this, but someone mentioned wanting to have a party for a dad who recently lost his own father, only to discover that he really wasn’t in the mood for a celebration.

Photo:SXC

So what to do in this case? I’d ask. Turns out this recently bereaved dad wanted to go visit the cemetary and leave flowers for his father. Maybe another dad would enjoy passing something his father taught him on to his son, like how to fish, golf, or swim.

Whatever you do, don’t pretend the grieving dad isn’t thinking about his father. It may be easier and less awkward to ignore the loss, but a, “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time your dad thought he caught a monster fish and reeled in an old bike tire instead?” is a great way to show that you are thinking about him, too.

Finding the right gift for Dad isn’t always easy. Some dads have lots of hobbies or passions, but other dads keep saying that they don’t need anything. But, a big part of days like Father’s day is that their children *want* to do something for their dads and they want to find a way to honor these men.

Yesterday, I wrote about 12 tips to help Dad celebrate a healthy Father’s day and here is another idea for you: An e-card, part of the Take Dad to the Doc campaign.

~~~~~

Image: Newscom.com

I never manage to think far enough ahead of time to get my husband a Father’s Day card from our pets, and truth be told he gets plenty of attention from the kids (and he’d probably just roll his eyes anyway)!

Petside.com has created a cute solution: free downloadable, printable cards from the pets for dad!

The PDF files, which include dogs or cats, download right to your computer, and from there you print it, fold it and you’re done! Each card contains a sweet greeting as well.

No ideas on how to get the pets to actually sign it — that’s entirely up to you.

[image: petside.com]