Would you like to find the perfect gift for your father?
Finding a good gift for dad, or the man who has everything, can be a big challenge – but I have the solution for you!
You probably know it all too well; you're standing again this year with father's birthday, tailing you with hasty steps and you just have no idea what the hell to give the man this year. Especially since our father has everything he needs (or so he claims anyway), so it doesn't exactly make the task any easier.
One might be tempted to think that his old Hawaiian shirt he has had since before you were born needs to be replaced with a new shirt in the trend of the time, but most often the response from our fathers in such a situation will be:
"It's very nice, but I now also really like my own Hawaiian shirt... Is there a trade mark on it?".
If, like me, you have been in a similar situation, then it is not exactly where you get the feeling that you have succeeded in giving dad the perfect gift.
Having said that, you really shouldn't be too hard on yourself: finding the perfect gift for dad just IS hard.
Our fathers have lived an enormously long time (we think so - if we ask them, they're scumbags) and therefore they have most often met many of the needs that gifts are otherwise meant to fulfill. My advice to you is therefore to really try to "get under the skin" of the old man, and try to soak your brain. Not like 2 hours before his birthday, but try to think outside the box and preferably as long before his birthday as possible, so you have time to prepare and make this year's gift for your father.
Your father and my father – common to all fathers – I think is that they value something that is made with love. Something that actually required an effort to give him. In the fight for the perfect gift for father, I would therefore dare to say that we should often look inwards and not outwards at the product shelves. By that I mean you have to give him something personal that might even give him a lump in the throat. Something that either testifies to good experiences you have had together or something that testifies to how much he means to you (because you are the apple of his eye, and mean everything to him).
Today, you can personalize many products. It can, for example, be engraving names in bracelets, or getting nice picture books for the chest of drawers. Your father deserves more though. He deserves something that will really penetrate the bear's tough exterior, an Unmute from you.
And what exactly is an Unmute, you might be thinking!?
An Unmute is a talking picture frame in physical format. It is a combination of one or more images and a sound file. A kind of time capsule, you could call it. Our voices are some of the most personal things we have, and yet we don't encapsulate powerful words from our loved ones.
We have had the custom of writing only personal cards to each other. But can you hear the mood and that person's laughter through a card? No, well. It's actually not very vivid, and while it's great to get a handwritten card, Unmute gives you so many more layers and depths to the personalized gift you can make for your dad.
When you say something to your father that he receives in combination with a picture from a good experience you had together or in combination with a picture from your childhood, you have given your father a gift that is deep on so many more levels than a personal card for him will be. You give him a pocket of time that he can have hanging on the wall or standing on the dresser and listen to over and over when he misses you.
Imagine how your voice will have changed in 10 years when he finds it and listens to it again. Can a handwritten card show how much you've changed since you wrote it? No, right? In the same way, you can also turn it around and say that when your father might not be here for another day (sorry to state the inevitable for all of us), wouldn't you also appreciate having an Unmute with you a loving audio greeting from your father in? A pocket of time that you can listen to again and again.
I know you came to my article to "just" find the perfect gift for dad, and I end up dragging you through a long emotional roller coaster when it wasn't what you ordered at all. And of course I have to regret that - but on the other hand, I'm just really convinced that when we give something of ourselves emotionally to those we love, it really is the most perfect gift you can give! No shirts, engraved bracelets or the like can beat that. That's why I hope you want to try making your very own unique Unmute that you can give your dad.
You can take a photo from your childhood and remind him of some good times you had together growing up or you can take a contemporary photo of you and just thank him for everything he has done for you. Regardless, I can almost guarantee that there will be tears of joy guaranteed for dad if you give something of yourself and make such a gift for him.
Yes, I know it's hugely over-the-top to have to say something and hear your own voice, but it's here where we really give something of ourselves that the magic happens. And remember, there's nothing stopping you from putting some Kleenex and some crackers in the Unmute box for dad, so he has something to strengthen himself ;-)
Thank you for reading along. I hope you could use my advice for something.
If you want to try making your own Unmute, you can do so via this link.
