Last month, I published a First Mother’s Day Gift Idea post so why not give the 1st-time Dads their due. I mean, I am a “daddy blogger”…or something. Here are several super cool gifts for the daddy about to enjoy their first Father’s Day, in addition to the sweet Lands’ End Polo Shirt I’m giving away right now!
GEAR
- Matching t-shirts for The Daddy and The Baby, Established 2011. Or a super cool Charcoal Grilling – That’s How I Roll iPhone 4 case for the new Dad who won’t even consider a propane tank. *Full disclosure: these products are designed by me and sold in my T-shirt & gift shop.
BOOKS
- Sing To Your Baby Book & CD – okay, this is cheating because I included this same book/cd combo in the First Mother’s Day one too but there’s a dad on the cover! and us papas should be singing to/communicating with the little munchkins too! Plus, Sing To Your Baby is a joy to have in the new parent library and is just about as essential as those “What to Expect” books.
Speaking of essential books. Here’s two more:
- DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood (Pregnancy and Year One) – the dudes at DadLabs have been blazing the trail of outspoken, active online fatherhood for some time on their innovative website. A couple years ago they published this handy, comical book of tips and tricks for new fathers. They deal with new baby issues from a uniquely guy perspective and as such, most new dads are gonna love it. I know I did, and this was years after my last baby was a baby. Meet Daddy Brad, Daddy Clay and the other fellas from DadLabs. They’ve always been supportive of kindie music too, so naturally I dig ’em.
- The Family Dinner – maybe the most important thing a new Dad can do for their kiddo is to prepare them a meal. Sounds strange ya know, ’cause bathing and swapping diapers are crucial too, but a homecooked meal with some discussion about the ingredients will go a loooong way (you’ve read all those studies on the importance of family mealtime, right?). I know what you’re thinking: new baby ain’t gonna know what’s what. True, but she won’t be a new baby for long (it’s okay to cry about this fact…grab a tissue…I’ll wait). C’mon and encourage papa to start preparing fresh food for your family now so that when that bundle of joy is old enough to climb the kitchen step stool, pinch some sea salt, and toss in the fresh rosemary, it’ll be 2nd nature for all of you.
TECHNOLOGY
I’m not going to get all stereotypical and say that all dudes love technology. I’ll save that kind of broad bush stroke Father’s Day coverage for CNN and the morning talk shows. That said, as a proud new parent your available hard drive space is likely going to start shrinking thanks to the thousands of photos you’ll be snapping of your tiny tot sleeping, rolling over, crawling, throwing up all over your wife, walking – ya know, the milestones of childhood. Therefore, I recommend the following, both used by yours truly:
- Verbatim Titan portable USB hard drive – if you or your fella is even a little bit confused or intimidated by external hard drives, this one is your dream come true. A little black device the size of smart phone with a few inches of USB cable is all that separates you from a cleaned up laptop/desktop hard drive. Plug it in and drag and drop anything and everything from your computer’s library into the Verbatim icon that’ll appear on your desktop. Bonus: It’s powered through the USB port so no extra wires or plugs to deal with!
- TOAST 10 – this software can do a lot of things, many of which befuddle me. I use TOAST for one thing only: compressing photos (and music) then burning to discs. This is in addition to backing up on my Verbatim hard drive. Once compressed with TOAST the DVD-R discs hold hundred of photos and are stored in our fire safe. Gotta be careful never to lose the baby pictures, boys!