So I'll be honest and state from the start that this post is drawn partly from personal experience and partly from the sales patterns at The Lovely Keepsake Company! I'm a Mum, I look forward to Mother's Day and I also love helping customers with ideas for gifts for a loved one, for both Mother's and Father's Day.
My experience from both, leads me to think that Mums are FAR more generous, creative, thoughtful and organised in arranging gifts than Dads are, ahead of Mother's Day!! "She would say that!" I hear all the Dads cry, but I honestly believe this is the case! Here's why...
So yes, of course, I do genuinely love my homemade, handwritten cards made by the kids and I keep every one of them. They are a joy and I love how proud they are of them and the love they show when they hand them over in the morning. I also love the fuss Jason makes about bringing me my cup of tea, which although he makes me a brew every morning, he always delivers my 'Mother's Day' cuppa with great aplomb and celebration.
And yet, whilst this is all lovely and much appreciated, if Jason didn't get me a card or small gift I would be livid! Why? Is that because I'm greedy, selfish, demanding? (maybe) But really, it's because I honestly look at Mother's Day as a celebration of all that we Mums do and for my fella to acknowledge that as well, as my kids, is important to me. And I also want him to teach my kids to show gratitude for all the 'everyday' things I do for them, without thinking, so that one day, they appreciate their own wife and mother of their kids. I don't want constant praise, thanks or gifts, but on a day that we all recognise is about loving, thanking and acknowledging Mothers, then quite frankly I don't care how bloody commercialised it is, I wanna be appreciated!
I tend to receive flowers and a card with a lovely verse. Jason has always carefully chosen cards by the verse. I love flowers, love receiving flowers and I love to see them around the house. Occasionally he's bought me gifts, sometimes ones I've dropped hints about, others he may have seen I've run out of. But I've always tended to have more thoughtful, innovative gifts for my birthday rather than Mother's Day. At least I get something, right?! And yes I do love my flowers and thoughtful card.
Whereas, for Father's Day, I love to get him something a bit different, something that will surprise him and that he'll appreciate. Let's face it, it's really tricky to buy for Dads anyway. You trawl through Gifts For Him collections and there's not a lot you think he'd actually use, like or want!
If he's a golfer, one year he'll be inundated with 'golfy things' and forever after request no golfing gifts and any he does receive he'll put at the back of the cupboard, only for them to find their way into the PTA tombola box sometime later. Same goes for cyclists, fisherman and any other enthusiast! There's only so much mileage in hobby merchandise before Dad is sick of seeing it!
It's such a shame that men don't really appreciate flowers too. It's the perfect get out for men really. Easy to find, cheap to buy (sometimes) and more often than not perfectly acceptable as a Mother's Day gift and welcomed by the recipient. How fab would that be just get him a bunch of flowers for Father's Day the night before?!
We Mums don't have the flower option, so aside from aftershave that can be expensive, and booze, that frankly is a little boring, we have no other choice but to be a bit more thoughtful and inventive!!
This is sort of mirrored in the trends of gifts bought at our online store.
Orders for Father's Day in 2017 were three times that of Mother's Day in the same year! Despite being an online store our customer demographic is split 55% women and 45% men which is fairly evenly split.
It's clear that women are thinking outside the box, trying to source gifts for Dads that are personalised, relevant to his stage in life and more than anything, are a bit different to what Dad might have seen before.
Women are also more thoughtful buying for Grandads and Stepdads on Father's Day than men are for Grandmas and Stepmums on Mother's Day. Gifts for Grandmas on Mother's Day in our store both last year and this year were bought by females.
And so, as we are now in May, we are just six weeks away from Father's Day, a day to celebrate the men in our lives who have either looked after us or who look out for our children. The TLKC team has scoured our suppliers, and indeed welcomed new suppliers, to bring you the very best ideas in an exciting range of gifts.
I'm lucky being surrounded by all these wonderful gifts and creative craftspeople that I already have ideas for Jason this Father's Day. (and yes we do sell them!) I might get him a bunch of flowers too though, you know, just to brighten the kitchen, I'm sure he'll appreciate them!!
Take a look at our collection, especially the personalised gifts, and surprise your fella this year showing off your thoughtful side!
We love you Daddies xx