My husband is a dad of three boys. I tried to think of something to give my husband for Father’s Day. I used to be the queen of gift-giving, with fun themes and outings planned, but having kids made all of that planning more complicated. With all of the baby stuff, toys, school papers, and sports gear, I certainly didn’t want to contribute to any more clutter – we are still trying to calm the constant chaos in our household and it is a full-time job in itself 😅
I always aim to gift experiences rather than physical gifts.
I definitely remember much more of what we did on previous Father’s Days than what I gave. Memories and quality time and acts of service are my love languages, and sometimes in the midst of baseball, work, and appointments, the quality time gets lost to over-scheduling and just being straight-up exhausted! I tried to think of something that would be JUST for him as well as something that would improve his quality of life in a simple but meaningful way.
I also LOVE themes! So this year, I thought about a gift that could be just for my husband and a theme to go with it. With all the added stuff that having kids brings, he, unfortunately, lost his parking spot in our garage and has been parking on the street or driveway for a couple of years at least. Honestly, I’ve lost count. I feel guilty that I get to park in the garage and he doesn’t, even though I use my car far more than he does since he works from home, and my car is the only one that fits our entire crew! And I’m also growing weary of the comments from our parents about our overflowing garage (aka home of random empty boxes, outdoor toys, and abandoned projects).
So this year, I’m going with a car theme.
I am going to give my husband his parking spot back! I aim to be sneaky and start slowly clearing out the clutter so he doesn’t notice it’s happening. I’ll do it gradually, and then as the big day approaches, I’ll pick up the pace so I can do the BIG REVEAL on Father’s Day. I plan to get a special parking placard for “Dad Parking Only” and some car wash certificates and maybe have the boys give his car a good old-fashioned car wash at home! I’d love to also have the garage painted, which is something he’s had on his to-do list for years but just has never gotten around to it. But this might be too ambitious for me to do without his help and without him noticing!
We will also have a family date at the Web (go-karts to go with the theme!?) or Fowling Warehouse, or perhaps a baseball game at the Cincinnati Reds or Florence Y’all’s (using our Pogo Passes for free admission!), or maybe we’ll even let Daddy choose his own adventure!
Happy Father’s Day to all of the Cincinnati dads out there!
