Almost everyone agrees: Father’s Day is the toughest holiday of the year. Already my friends and coworkers are asking for advice about what to do for Dad next month.

Ever wonder why Father’s Day seems so hard? Me, too. So I conducted an informal and (very) unscientific poll of the fathers I know to see if I could figure out what we should do to make their big day really big. Here’s what I found out:

• It’s unanimous: no more ties. “Ties are tired” say the dads I talked to. They have plenty of ties and — believe it or not — Dads prefer to pick out their own clothes.
• Call, but not collect. Even today, when it seems everyone is issued a smart phone at birth, Father’s Day is still the number one day for collect calls. If you call Dad from your landline, be a sport and pick up the tab.
• Ask what they want. This surprised me. The dads didn’t understand why kids aren’t pragmatic enough to just come out and ask what they want for Father’s Day. (I never would have thought of that!)

The dads also told me that it doesn’t really matter what we get them for Father’s Day. As long as we remember to call or drop by and spend a little time talking. Pretty simple. Something tells me we’ve been making this whole Father’s Day thing a lot harder than it has to be!

Your “Dad’s Day” Gift Guru,
Linda