{"id":3854,"date":"2007-06-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=3854"},"modified":"2015-11-01T16:55:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T00:55:52","slug":"a-holiday-for-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=3854","title":{"rendered":"A Holiday for Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a9 Vasic | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images<\/p><\/div>\n

This Father’s Day: It’s All About Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

Searching for the perfect Father’s Day<\/a> gift? Men are always so hard to buy for. Plus, let’s face it, unless it’s a 500-foot plasma screen or comes from Victoria’s Secret<\/a>, they pretty much have the same, “uh thanks” reaction to any gift you buy them. That’s why this year I’ve come up with a brand new philosophy about Father’s Day gift buying: it’s all about me.<\/p>\n

My first suggestion was that my husband take our son away for the weekend to do manly things, thus leaving me with the house to myself. “How about a father-son camping trip?” I suggested sweetly. “You could go fishing, hiking, maybe even rock climbing. It would be a great bonding experience.”<\/p>\n

My husband thought I was kidding about the camping trip, which in retrospect isn’t all that surprising, given that his idea of “roughing it” usually involves a golf club. Once I got him to stop laughing, I suggested he teach Koss to play golf– thus another way of leaving me with the house to myself for long periods of time. Perhaps they could golf in Palm Springs or Pebble Beach, or an affordable place like Bakersfield, I hear it’s lovely this time of year.<\/p>\n

He laughed again. He still didn’t realize that I was serious. This Father’s Day was finally going to be all about me.<\/p>\n

I tried another tactic. If they weren’t going to leave the house, there were all kinds of excellent father-son bonding opportunities right under our own roof. “How about steam cleaning the carpets, painting the bedroom or organizing the pantry,” I suggested sweetly.<\/p>\n

That time they both laughed–hard, until milk came out of their noses–like they thought I was kidding or something.<\/p>\n

Maybe they didn’t want to be indoors all weekend. I tried again. “You could fix the fence together, or build a hot tub, or plant a rose garden and then strew petals all around the house.” More snorting. Honestly, you’ve got to be so patient with the male species sometimes.<\/p>\n

“What about building that shed you’ve been talking about for the past seven years? Then you could clean out our storage unit and maybe even have a garage sale.”<\/p>\n

I liked that idea a lot. If they did the garage sale then they could use the money to send me on little getaway to a spa or something.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the light bulb I keep on my head for these occasions lit up: I finally had the perfect Father’s Day gift idea! I would send my husband and son on a little trip to massage-therapy-gourmet-cooking school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brilliant. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who knows that when I’m happy, then everyone’s happy (I know there must be some corollary to that, I just can’t think what). And what could make my hubby happier than having me blissed out on massages and food? What can I say, I’m a giver. Happy Father’s Day!<\/p>\n

Originally appeared in the\u00a0Santa Barbara Daily Sound<\/a>\u00a0on June 15, 2007<\/h6>\n

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