I’ve always found buying gifts for my father incredibly difficult. I’ve mostly resorted to gifting experiences now – it started a few years ago when I took him to an art exhibition that was meaningful for the two of us and I’ve kind of carried on that way ever since. But sometimes it’s nice to see him unwrap those beaded bracelets, custom-made gifts like pillows, photo frames, t-shirts, etc. that I could get him (for additional reading, tap here). Especially at the time of Christmas, it is endearing to watch him unwrap the gifts with the enthusiasm of a child. As children, there is no greater joy than seeing your parents happy and doing something for them. I usually take a lot of joy in those little pleasures.
My Dad is a golfer. Over the years I’ve tried to buy him golf gifts and almost always failed. It’s one of those hobbies that if you’re not really into it then you probably have no clue what to buy someone. I’m sure that there are hundreds of amazing gifts and gadgets that any golfer would love to have – but my father is not the kind of man who knows where to find the Amazon wishlist button, and so they are largely unknown to me! My friend suggested that I get him one of those cute Custom Bobbleheads in his golf outfit. While it would have been a really cute gift, I had other plans.
This year I’ve decided to buy him some vouchers for his local driving range. I know he likes to head over to the driving range when he can, and sometimes I even go with him (some years ago he bought me, second hand, my own little set of clubs). I’m not great, but most of the time I manage to hit the ball and get it to sail off down the driving range to some corner that I wasn’t aiming for…
Anyway, vouchers on their own are a little dull. So I’m going to pick him up a small gift to go with it. I’ve narrowed it down to a few different options.
Something Handmade
It’s no secret that I make things for a living. I’ve even started to write a whole series about starting a handmade business. I’ve been considering making a little embroidered pouch for my Dad this Christmas but I am struggling to decide what design I should do.
I’m thinking something like this because he’s a little traditional, but the embroidery site I often purchase from also has some cute retro designs too.
Small cloth pouches are so useful for just about every hobby – I imagine he could store tees in them or perhaps a slightly larger one might store a few golf balls or similar.
Cute T-Shirts
There’s always room for more t-shirts in any Dad’s life, right? He retired a few years ago but found himself bored so he got himself another job… so this t-shirt from golf crowd seems particularly appropriate! I’m fairly sure that he’s said this exact same thing to me on more than one occasion when giving me some fatherly advice to not work too hard and spend time doing the things I love instead.
Or there’s always a Golf Book…
I happen to know that my Dad spends most of his internet-surfing time looking at beautiful foreign golf courses, working out which is the best golf simulator available that can replicate these courses, and figuring out how much it will cost to tour the world playing on them.
Although part of me thinks I should be discouraging him from spending most of my inheritance, I also think he should just get on and enjoy himself – and perhaps he’ll take me to one or two of them as well!
That’s why this book full of stunning photography and interesting commentaries is on my list of gifts to buy him this Christmas or for his birthday in January. I usually buy him historical fiction books but I’m a bit out of the loop on what’s good at the moment. So this year perhaps I’ll change it up and do something different!
