Looking to plan the perfect Father’s Day for your dad or spouse?
I am not a father, so I hesitated to write about how to make the perfect Father’s Day for the dads in your life. Luckily, I have a dad close by who was willing to pitch in with this week’s post. I sat down with my husband and asked him to describe his perfect Father’s Day.
Although I do think you can get some inspiration from my husband’s perfect Father’s Day, I think you can take away a bigger, more important lesson from my experiment interviewing my husband. Talk to the dads in your life about what their perfect Father’s Day looks like. It’s not about making the day “perfect” based on what others might tell you. Instead, personalize it. You might be surprised by what they want.
Here is one man’s perfect Father’s Day. Use it as a conversation starter with your dad or husband or partner. He might find some things in here that interest him, or he might have a completely different idea of what his perfect Father’s Day looks like. Keep an open mind!
One Man’s Perfect Father’s Day
Extra sleep
As long as I have known my husband, sleep has been his #1 priority. So, it came as no surprise that he included the ability to sleep in later than the wee hours of the morning in his perfect Father’s Day. You see, my husband works a weird schedule. Sometimes this involves being awake and at work for 24 hours (or more) at a time. Before kids, he could adjust as necessary to ensure that he was getting adequate sleep. After the kids arrived, though, the adjustments became impossible. The result is that my poor husband is often walking around sleep deprived.
Perhaps my most meaningful gesture on Father’s Day is to let him sleep in. I will get the kids up and pop them in front of their latest favorite Disney+ show. It might take a miracle, but I will try to keep the kids from jumping on their dad to wake him up. I will make a simple, delicious breakfast. He will get an extra few winks, so help me God.
Morning with the kids
My husband was clear that he wanted to spend his perfect Father’s Day with his kids. This question should be the first question you ask the dads in your life when planning their perfect Father’s Day, because their responses are likely to be all over the place. Some may want family time, some may want alone time or time with friends, and some may want a mix. My husband loves to golf but has always been firm that he can golf on other weekend days – he wants to spend Father’s Day with the gremlins who made him a father.
My kids would rather spend time outside than inside every day of the week. In fact, one of the first phrases my daughter mastered when she was learning to speak was “Go outside!” We play sports, we dig in the dirt, we blow bubbles, we draw with chalk – you name it, we do it. Many days, we go through the whole arsenal of our outdoor toys, rinse, and repeat. Because of how happy the kids are when they’re playing outside, my husband wants to spend the morning of his perfect Father’s Day playing outside with them. Mom will supply the sunscreen and happily observe from her new chair that she got for Mother’s Day.
Exercise with the dog
Another thing that is important to know about my husband is that he is obsessed with our dog. He might say he loves me and the kids more than anything, but we all know that isn’t true. The dog is the real love of his life. She was the first being that made us “parents” at a time when we were struggling to get pregnant, so she deserves a place in his perfect Father’s Day too.
Assuming the weather cooperates, my husband would love for a walk or run with the dog to be part of his perfect Father’s Day. Sure, he sometimes gripes about her stopping to sniff every 10 yards or needing to say hello to every human, dog, bunny, or turkey she encounters, but he loves slipping on her harness and taking her for a spin around the neighborhood. If the dads in your life have dogs, make sure they get to spend a little bit of their perfect Father’s Day with their furry kids too.
Cook out
A few years ago, my husband started a new Father’s Day tradition with his extended family, which includes his dad and his two brothers’ families. A few days before Father’s Day, my husband will travel to a specialty meat store and pick up beautiful steaks. He usually gets NY Strips, but he has also gotten filets before. He throws them all on the grill (along with hot dogs for the kids and occasionally some lobster or crab legs to make it a surf and turf situation), and I take care of the side dishes. Then, we feast!
This year might have to have a venue change to my brother-in-law’s house to accommodate my father-in-law’s mobility issues, but the plan is still to have the steak-centered cook out on Father’s Day. It is the centerpiece of my husband’s perfect Father’s Day, so I see this being at the top of my husband’s must-do list for Father’s Day for years to come.
Water play
As a little bonus, my husband noted that he has enjoyed that we have gotten the slip n’ slide out for the kids for the past few Father’s Days. As I have mentioned previously, the kids are always in a better mood when you add a little water.
One piece of advice, though. Make sure the dads don’t get impatient to have fun with the kids on the slip n’ slide and make any rash decisions (pun intended). One year, I was feeding my 6-week-old when the guys wanted to start up the slip n’ slide. Instead of waiting 10 minutes for me to finish so I could get the boys some swimsuits, my brother-in-law thought it would be a good idea to strip them from the waist down and send them down the slip n’ slide on their bare bums. The poor boys had minor burns in very sensitive areas for days. Swimsuits are a must!
I hope my husband’s perfect Father’s Day gives you a little inspiration both for what your Father’s Day might look like and to have a conversation with the dads in your life about their perfect Father’s Day. Please share your plans for Father’s Day over on Instagram @sarainseason or in the comments below!