If you're struggling on what you should give dad this Christmas, keep in mind that showing your appreciation for the favorite guy in your life doesn't have to be pricey. You can prove to your dad that the lessons he taught you about money are still holding strong! Here are 17 heartwarming gifts that will display plenty of thoughtfulness without breaking the bank.
Making the plans to spend time with family over the holidays is tough enough with only two families involved, but for blended families it can be a nightmare! To make this season a little easier moms who have done the holiday share and switch-off share some holiday survival tips for blended families, below.
1. Split Up the Holidays Evenly
Some Circle of Moms members suggest an every other year schedule for the big holidays, but that doesn’t work for all families. Member Betty J. says her ex spends every other holiday with their daughter, which means last year Betty got her for a long Thanksgiving holiday, and this year she gets her for Christmas.
Two holidays that Circle of Moms members are in agreement about are Mother's Day and Father's Day. As Kimberly K. puts it: "Mom has Mother’s Day [and] dad has Father’s Day."
Formalize the Details
It’s not enough to say that children will spend the odd year winter holidays with their father and the even years with their mother. Moms Anna L. and Tamara S. remind you to put it in writing, and to have the agreement notarized. While you’re at it, make sure all the details are spelled out. Make sure you clarify questions like:
2. Let Your Children Go to Both Houses
When you want so badly to celebrate the holidays with your children it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that what’s important is that they have a happy holiday season. One Circle of Mom member, a mom who goes by the name "Medic Mommy," learned from her own experience that it’s hard on kids to be shuffled between houses on the holidays, so she won’t put her own children through it.
Lynda S. says it’s in the best interest of her children to work together and let them attend both sides of the family's events. While that’s not always possible for all families, the most important thing, as mom Kimi B. says, is that all the children need to be together for the holidays. If your children are scheduled to visit another parent, that means you may have to celebrate the holiday a few days late or a couple of days early.
3. Make New Family Traditions
When blended families come together or parents divorce, the holidays are going to look and feel different. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Take, for example, Crystal M.’s blended family. It’s a typical 'his, hers and ours,' in which she and her husband both had children from previous relationships and now have a child together. She describes the unique tradition they created for their family: "We celebrate Christmas two weeks early so that [we] can have everyone together at one time; the specific day doesn't matter, it's the fact that you can all just be ‘family’ that is what really matters."
Showing your children that people can celebrate holidays in new ways can also help them see that holiday fun isn’t tied to the traditions you had before your divorce or remarriage. Making new traditions, points out Naomi B., builds new memories.
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The cards are opened and the gifts unwrapped, and while Father's Day 2012 may be over, the photos will last a lifetime! We asked our readers to grab their mobile phones and upload photos of their kids and the dads in their lives in our Father's Day Instagram challenge. From Daddy's first time holding his tot to sharing toasted marshmallows together, we thank you for sharing some beautiful moments with us. Check out these sweet dad and tot moments and stay tuned — our next Instagram challenge will kick off soon!
Yesterday was Father's Day and many celebrities showed appreciation for the men in their lives. Amy Adams and her daughter, Aviana, spent the afternoon in NYC with dad Darren Le Gallo, while also in the Big Apple, Ethan Hawke strolled with his four little ones, and Hugh Jackman did the same with kids Ava and Oscar. Over in LA, Gavin Rossdale had a fun one with family, including wife Gwen Stefani and their son Zuma. Hopefully you had a great Father's Day — click through to see what the stars were up to.
There's something about the bond between a dad and his daughter, so it's no surprise that there are a number of special wedding traditions that center on this special relationship. Some of the most emotionally charged moments — aside from those between the bride and groom, of course — include the father/daughter dance and the giving away of the bride by her father in the ceremony. The origin of the latter, however, harkens back to the days of arranged marriages, when fathers gave their daughters away as property in exchange for a dowry. Nowadays the meaning is much less offensive to women, as it's considered a symbol of the father's blessing of the union. The father/daughter dance is also a way for the dad to give away his daughter and to say his goodbyes as her husband becomes the new main man in her life. At American weddings, fathers also traditionally say a toast to the bride and groom at the reception.
Depending on your culture or religion, there are a wide variety of traditions involving the bride's dad. At Argentinean weddings, the bride is escorted by her father down the aisle, but instead of bridesmaids and groomsmen, the couples' parents and godparents are the only ones at their side for the ceremony. Jewish weddings have many traditions for the father of the bride to take part in, including the Groom's Tish, in which the men sing and drink and the father of the bride, together with the groom, signs the Ketubah. During Indian wedding ceremonies, the parents of the bride wash the feet of the bride and groom with milk and water to symbolize their purification before marriage. And at Muslim weddings, the tradition of the bride's father giving her away to the groom is called "rukhsat." But perhaps the most unusual tradition occurs at wedding ceremonies in the Maasai nation of Kenya, in which the father of the bride gives his blessing by spitting on the bride's head and breasts.
No matter what your background, you can't help but feel the love this Father's Day with these inspiring father/daughter wedding moments caught on camera. And tell us below if you have a father/daughter wedding tradition we didn't mention!
Father's Day is this Sunday, and there are lots of celebrity dads who will be celebrating with their loved ones. While seasoned pops like Ben Affleck and David Beckham can look forward to spending another special day with their growing broods, first-time fathers like Chris Hemsworth, Eric Johnson, and Jay-Z are gearing up to enjoy the holiday with their brand new bundles of joy. In honor of Father's Day, click through to see this year's crop of new celebrity dads!
It's Father's Day, so we've been giving movie dads their due. There are certain actors who have played sweet onscreen pops several times, like Steve Martin and Adam Sandler, and now we're taking the time to recognize Dennis Quaid's contribution to the world of movie dads. He's played a father a surprising amount of times, so check out his most memorable stints as the patriarch of the family.
In celebration of Father's Day, we're taking a look at some of the most memorable geeky dads from film and television. Whether they were science nerds or die-hard dinosaur fanatics, these fathers had plenty of dorky quirks. From Danny Tanner to Darth Vader, here are 12 of our favorite geeky fathers in pop culture.
Father's Day is tomorrow, which means it's time to show our appreciation for all the dads out there. There's an especially good-looking crop of men with kids in Hollywood, and we're taking a look at them all. Usher is a doting parent to his boys, while Orlando Bloom shows lots of love to his son, Flynn. Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are hands-on with their twins, Gideon and Harper, and Gabriel Aubry gets playful with daughter Nahla.
Click through to see the 100 hottest celebrity dads, and make sure to celebrate your pops on Sunday.
In honor of all the famous guys celebrating Father's Day, we've rounded up some of their sweet sentiments about parenthood. Hear Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and more doting dads discuss the joys of having children.
