I hope everyone has been having a good holiday season. It's been really busy around here and I haven't had much time to update this here blog. So until I finish writing something, I'll just tell you about our holiday.
You'll be happy to know that I received some gifts from my list of awesome gifts! My wife decided I've been good enough to get me a new pair of boots. Very exciting! Now I can step on things really hard! I also received a new knife from my in-laws which is always an excellent thing. Along with those gifts Santa also saw fit to bring me some new shirts, the new Stephen King book, the complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1 & 2 and a new set of pots and pans. It really was a great Christmas. The one gift that topped them all was seeing my son enjoy all of his new toys.
This year was the first year I got to play Santa and put something big together for him. A nice little play kitchen. How hard could that be to put together? Should take only a couple minutes right? Wrong. Try an hour and a half. I had a couple near misses too. Once I almost stabbed myself with my knife trying to start a hole where a screw needed to go, then I almost stabbed myself with a screwdriver trying to get said screw in. I had to get my wife to help me wrestle this beast of a toy into submission to get things under control. After finally getting this thing assembled and putting all the stickers it came with on, I moved on to an art easel. Literally took five minutes. I was prepared for another battle but it must have seen my beard and the crazy look in my eyes and decided it wanted to live out the rest of it's life as an easel and not fire wood.
I think that even if I would have stabbed myself putting those things together, it still would have been worth it just to see my son get super excited. I hope that everyone else had an excellent holiday and got to spend some quality time with friends, family and loved ones in general. I think that's the most important part of the holidays, finding time to slow down and have fun. We get too consumed with all of the craziness and sometimes forget to take it easy and have fun. I'll be churning out some new blogs this week, so look out for those. Sorry for the lack of newness around here the last two weeks.
Don't forget to email me questions or topics you'd like to see discussed at truthaboutdads
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
POWER TOOLS!
It's a well known fact that men are obsessed with power tools. Chainsaws, drills, sanders, grinders, nail guns. You name a power tool, we have it, want it or need it. The more we have, the better we feel. They're big boy toys. We keep as quiet as possible about your purses, shoes or whatever else you ladies out there collect because it's what you like. Tools are one of the things we like. Some people collect salt and pepper shakers or figurines or antiques. Men collect pelts from animals we've vanquished, junk and tools.
One of the allures of power tools is the potential danger involved in using them. Sure, manufacturers try to make them as safe as possible, but they're still dangerous. Take chainsaws. Razor sharp teeth going at an insane rate of speed. When properly used and maintained, they go through wood like a hot knife through butter. We could easily lop off a limb while using one, but every day men are out there using them. We love and treat tools of this nature with respect because we know they're dangerous, but their danger is another reason we love them. Men love danger. Why do you think so many guys say "Danger is my middle name" ?
We try to add to our arsenal as much as possible. It comes in handy to have a bunch of tools that you don't need to borrow. When we have to borrow a tool, it makes us feel like less of a man. We think to ourselves that we should have that tool in the first place so that we're prepared. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is the nicest guy on the planet, when your husband has to go over and ask to borrow a circular saw, he hangs his head in shame slightly. It's just embarrassing to us. The only time we're not embarrassed is when we are on the lending end of that deal.
So besides the awesome power produced, the danger involved and the ability to do things a lot faster with them, it's a sense of pride. Knowing we are prepared for any house hold chore/repair/improvement we need to do. Need to cut down a tree before it falls on the house? No problem, the chainsaw is ready to go. Need to install some baby proof latches on the cabinets? I'll go get the drill. Putting up some crown molding? Let me go grab the nail gun.
When I was discussing this topic with a friend, she brought up the fact that we never want our ladies to use said power tools. Why? Well, it's not that we think you're too stupid to use them or that we don't trust you. It just comes down to this. We have a protector instinct. We don't want you to get hurt and will go to any length to make sure it doesn't happen. If someone's going to lose a finger, poke out an eye or break something, we want it to be us. We're used to hurting ourselves. It's that simple.
So encourage your husband to get the power tools he wants or needs. He'll think you're the best wife ever and may be completely open to you going and getting a new purse after we hit Home Depot. It's a win-win.
Have questions you want answered or subjects you'd like to see? Email me at truthaboutdads@yahoo.com
One of the allures of power tools is the potential danger involved in using them. Sure, manufacturers try to make them as safe as possible, but they're still dangerous. Take chainsaws. Razor sharp teeth going at an insane rate of speed. When properly used and maintained, they go through wood like a hot knife through butter. We could easily lop off a limb while using one, but every day men are out there using them. We love and treat tools of this nature with respect because we know they're dangerous, but their danger is another reason we love them. Men love danger. Why do you think so many guys say "Danger is my middle name" ?
We try to add to our arsenal as much as possible. It comes in handy to have a bunch of tools that you don't need to borrow. When we have to borrow a tool, it makes us feel like less of a man. We think to ourselves that we should have that tool in the first place so that we're prepared. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is the nicest guy on the planet, when your husband has to go over and ask to borrow a circular saw, he hangs his head in shame slightly. It's just embarrassing to us. The only time we're not embarrassed is when we are on the lending end of that deal.
So besides the awesome power produced, the danger involved and the ability to do things a lot faster with them, it's a sense of pride. Knowing we are prepared for any house hold chore/repair/improvement we need to do. Need to cut down a tree before it falls on the house? No problem, the chainsaw is ready to go. Need to install some baby proof latches on the cabinets? I'll go get the drill. Putting up some crown molding? Let me go grab the nail gun.
When I was discussing this topic with a friend, she brought up the fact that we never want our ladies to use said power tools. Why? Well, it's not that we think you're too stupid to use them or that we don't trust you. It just comes down to this. We have a protector instinct. We don't want you to get hurt and will go to any length to make sure it doesn't happen. If someone's going to lose a finger, poke out an eye or break something, we want it to be us. We're used to hurting ourselves. It's that simple.
So encourage your husband to get the power tools he wants or needs. He'll think you're the best wife ever and may be completely open to you going and getting a new purse after we hit Home Depot. It's a win-win.
Have questions you want answered or subjects you'd like to see? Email me at truthaboutdads@yahoo.com
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
What We Do in the Shed...
These days there are usually very few areas in the house that men can truly call their own. Thankfully the concept of the shed is still around. The shed is a man's domain. It smells like gasoline and testosterone in there with a background note of grass clippings. We keep our tools and our toys out there. It's our cluttered little Zen Garden. There's stains on the floor, a couple cobwebs here and there, some simple crank open windows and if you're really lucky like me, you have electricity out there too. It's a mini paradise of sorts.
Now, what do we do in the shed? There's a couple reasons that we go out there. You may not be able to ever figure out for sure which reason we're really heading out there for because the only thing we usually say is "I gotta head out to the shed real quick". Regardless of why we're really going out there, "real quick" can easily turn into "a little while". We get distracted easily, but you should be used to that by now.
One reason to head out to the shed is to get or do something. It's the legitimate reason. We need some nails to hang some pictures or a drill to finish building you a statue of a fancy peacock made from 100% found and recycled things.
Sometimes we just head out to the shed because we're bored. There's always something to do in the shed. We can always get a broom out and sweep up, reorganize our tools or go through everything out there and find tools and other random objects we forgot we had. Hell, sometimes I let my shed get disorderly just so I'll have something to do at a future date. Cleaning up the shed is some of the only cleaning we like doing.
As I said before, the shed is like a man's Zen Garden. It's a place we can go to calm down if we're mad or to just get some needed alone time. We can go out there and fiddle with a bike that needs some attention, sharpen our tools and clear our heads. Most of the time we'll come back in a much calmer state of mind, unless we started messing around with something out there that somehow got the better of us. Then we're still irritated, just not about what was initially bothering us.
Here's my advice about the shed now that you know some of the reasons we go out there. Three words. Respect the shed. The above information was to let you know some of the reasons we do what we do. Don't jump to any conclusions now when we head out there. If you start asking your husband what he was really doing out in the shed, he may remember that he forgot to get a screw driver he needed while he was out there, even though he was coming in to take a shower. Respect the shed.
Now, what do we do in the shed? There's a couple reasons that we go out there. You may not be able to ever figure out for sure which reason we're really heading out there for because the only thing we usually say is "I gotta head out to the shed real quick". Regardless of why we're really going out there, "real quick" can easily turn into "a little while". We get distracted easily, but you should be used to that by now.
One reason to head out to the shed is to get or do something. It's the legitimate reason. We need some nails to hang some pictures or a drill to finish building you a statue of a fancy peacock made from 100% found and recycled things.
Sometimes we just head out to the shed because we're bored. There's always something to do in the shed. We can always get a broom out and sweep up, reorganize our tools or go through everything out there and find tools and other random objects we forgot we had. Hell, sometimes I let my shed get disorderly just so I'll have something to do at a future date. Cleaning up the shed is some of the only cleaning we like doing.
As I said before, the shed is like a man's Zen Garden. It's a place we can go to calm down if we're mad or to just get some needed alone time. We can go out there and fiddle with a bike that needs some attention, sharpen our tools and clear our heads. Most of the time we'll come back in a much calmer state of mind, unless we started messing around with something out there that somehow got the better of us. Then we're still irritated, just not about what was initially bothering us.
Here's my advice about the shed now that you know some of the reasons we go out there. Three words. Respect the shed. The above information was to let you know some of the reasons we do what we do. Don't jump to any conclusions now when we head out there. If you start asking your husband what he was really doing out in the shed, he may remember that he forgot to get a screw driver he needed while he was out there, even though he was coming in to take a shower. Respect the shed.
Our Differing Tastes in Movies...
It's no secret that men and women are usually on complete opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to what we enjoy in the movies. I may be making some generalizations in this post, but you just gotta bear with me, because I know, yes, some women do enjoy the same stuff guys do.
When it comes to movies, everyone has their own tastes, but I'm going to give you some examples of movies that your typical man enjoys.
Mad Max Movies. We love them. They're pre-crazy Mel Gibson, they've got that post apocalyptic struggle theme going on and over all, they're just great movies. Everyone is dressed crazy, like the old wrestling tag team the Bushwhackers and the Legion of Doom.
Rambo. Yes, Rambo. It's classic. He's angry and he takes it out on idiots. He's the lone wolf. We're jealous. We want to be a damn lone wolf.
Zombie movies in general. There is nothing we want more than to take care of a zombie outbreak. Yes we know it's not a real option, but it would be awesome just the same.
There's a couple examples. I'm keeping it limited to that for now because I could ramble for hours about movies. The point is, we like intense movies. Sure, every now and again we can go for a comedy, maybe some Superbad, a little Anchor Man here and there. But for the most part we like movies that blow our minds with the amount of sheer fire power displayed and people overcoming ridiculous things, like hoards of undead. Maybe we're just wired to like violent stuff, who knows.
You know what we don't like? Romantic comedy. We cringe at it. But we watch it anyway, don't we? We compromise in hopes that maybe you'll watch Gangs of New York or maybe The Thing. Romantic and comedy are the two words we fear being used in the same sentence. It's horrible. There's no explosions, no yelling over gun fire, no cars flipping, no swords clashing together. It's not our thing. We don't like it, just like you don't like what we want to watch.
I have found that the best way to please everyone is to just admit to yourselves that you don't like what your significant other does and get a movie from both categories. Watch both of them. Flip a coin to see which one goes first or play rock, paper, scissors so that it's fair, best 2/3. Or you can watch one each week and switch off who chooses the movie each time. It's better then getting in an argument about why the movie we chose was stupid.
So in conclusion, guys like intense movies. We don't like feel good stuff. We're guys, if we want to feel good we'll go make some beef jerky or hunt a mountain lion with nothing but a sharp stick. It's nothing personal. It's not that we don't like the movie because you like it and it's not that it's really even a bad movie. Some things just don't compute correctly in our brains. Romantic comedies, feel good movies, movies about traveling pants, they just get our brain parts confused.
Don't forget to send me some questions or subjects you might like to hear about at truthaboutdads@yahoo.com
When it comes to movies, everyone has their own tastes, but I'm going to give you some examples of movies that your typical man enjoys.
Mad Max Movies. We love them. They're pre-crazy Mel Gibson, they've got that post apocalyptic struggle theme going on and over all, they're just great movies. Everyone is dressed crazy, like the old wrestling tag team the Bushwhackers and the Legion of Doom.
Rambo. Yes, Rambo. It's classic. He's angry and he takes it out on idiots. He's the lone wolf. We're jealous. We want to be a damn lone wolf.
Zombie movies in general. There is nothing we want more than to take care of a zombie outbreak. Yes we know it's not a real option, but it would be awesome just the same.
There's a couple examples. I'm keeping it limited to that for now because I could ramble for hours about movies. The point is, we like intense movies. Sure, every now and again we can go for a comedy, maybe some Superbad, a little Anchor Man here and there. But for the most part we like movies that blow our minds with the amount of sheer fire power displayed and people overcoming ridiculous things, like hoards of undead. Maybe we're just wired to like violent stuff, who knows.
You know what we don't like? Romantic comedy. We cringe at it. But we watch it anyway, don't we? We compromise in hopes that maybe you'll watch Gangs of New York or maybe The Thing. Romantic and comedy are the two words we fear being used in the same sentence. It's horrible. There's no explosions, no yelling over gun fire, no cars flipping, no swords clashing together. It's not our thing. We don't like it, just like you don't like what we want to watch.
I have found that the best way to please everyone is to just admit to yourselves that you don't like what your significant other does and get a movie from both categories. Watch both of them. Flip a coin to see which one goes first or play rock, paper, scissors so that it's fair, best 2/3. Or you can watch one each week and switch off who chooses the movie each time. It's better then getting in an argument about why the movie we chose was stupid.
So in conclusion, guys like intense movies. We don't like feel good stuff. We're guys, if we want to feel good we'll go make some beef jerky or hunt a mountain lion with nothing but a sharp stick. It's nothing personal. It's not that we don't like the movie because you like it and it's not that it's really even a bad movie. Some things just don't compute correctly in our brains. Romantic comedies, feel good movies, movies about traveling pants, they just get our brain parts confused.
Don't forget to send me some questions or subjects you might like to hear about at truthaboutdads@yahoo.com
Friday, November 26, 2010
Black Friday, Men and shopping in general...
Since it's Black Friday and some of you crazy people are out shopping while the rest of us sane people stay home and emerge from our turkey comas and work off our food babies, I thought I'd tackle the subject of men and our general dislike for shopping.
On days like today, you generally think of people waiting in line for hours, in fact they've usually been there, in line, outside of Best Buy since 11pm the previous evening. That is nuts. The only time I'm going to stand in line that long is to meet Chuck Norris or go River Boat Gambling with Sean Connery. Standing in line is generally not one of our strong suites.
One of the main reasons we don't like shopping around is pretty simple. We like to go in with a plan. We know what we want and go straight to it, pick it up, pay for it and leave. If we're shopping for multiple people, we think about everything we are getting and go into town to purchase it all in one fatal swoop. If we don't know what we're buying for crazy old Aunt Marge yet, we don't look around for something to get her. Aunt Marge's present can wait until we figure out what to get for her and anyone else that we haven't figured out a suitable present for.
Most other men that I know, myself included, don't like hunting around for THE perfect gift, shirt or sweater. The only hunting we like to do is for something that could potentially kill us, like a pack of rabid wolves or a giant agitated moose in rut. Our mind works in a very simple and efficient way. We take in information and store it for later use. We try to be as practical as possible about things. When thinking of gifts for people, this information pops back up and we use it to figure out what to get for you. Once that's figured out, it goes on our mental list.
When looking for something for ourselves, like new pants, you know what we do? We buy the same crap we already have. Why? Because it works and we don't have to spend time figuring out what to buy. When I need new pants, I buy the same style of Levi's. They work. We know what we like and go straight to it almost every time.
The reason we don't like going shopping with women is very simple. You are the polar opposite when it comes to shopping. You like to find the best deals, the perfect sweater for the Christmas party and you want to find Aunt Marge a present while you're out. I'm not saying these are bad qualities, they're not. My wife finds more great deals on things than I could even dream of. I'm glad she does too, it makes it a little easier on an already close to empty wallet. What I'm trying to get at here is that women are in general, very patient. Men on the other hand, we want what we want, when we want it. Wow, that was a lot of W's. But it's the truth. Our gender is not very good at waiting unless we're up in a tree stand or in or beside a stream, lake or river. It's just how we are.
One last thing on our disdain for shopping, especially around the holidays. When you visit the mall from now until after the new year, there is one thing that you are guaranteed to see. A giant crowd of people. Before you even get into the mall, you are required to enter Mortal Combat with other drivers over parking spots. Everyone suddenly forgets everything they learned in Drivers Ed and all of their experiences driving. People become ticking time bombs. A lot of profanity, hand gestures and sometimes extremely creative facial expressions are used. It's frustrating. Finally, after yelling a lot of insults that you don't even know the meaning of and getting cut off and robbed of a parking spot for the 746th time, you find a parking spot, five miles from the mall. You're exstatic about it, but the battle isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
Once you defeat the Parking Lot of Doom, the next horrific phase of the Holiday Shopping Gauntlet is upon you. Working through a crowd of people who have no clue how to walk. I know that I for one don't do great in the holiday crowds at the mall. Since I'm a man and impatient by default, I can not stand being behind slow poke non-walking zombie shoppers and guess what? The mall is full of them! This is where our impatience really gets the best of us. We will repeatedly let out angry moans and sighs and start to get really red in the face. When we need to get to Old Navy and it's only 30 feet away but we know it will take us 10 minutes to get through the crowd, it makes us turn into the Incredible Hulk. We start throwing buses and kicking people into the next state until we reach Old Navy. We go in and find you a really nice, soft and luxurious scarf, get excited that that's one more present to cross off the list, pay for it and re-enter the crowd where we have to yet again Hulk it out so that we can get into Bath & Body Works to find you a glorious set of body wash, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. It's a vicious cycle and there's only so many garments we can destroy turning into the Hulk. Our happiest moment when shopping is the second we see that we're putting the mall in the rear view.
I hope this helps you understand why we despise shopping. It's not our fault really, it's just part of our impatient nature. It doesn't mean we love you any less, we just absolutely loathe shopping.
On days like today, you generally think of people waiting in line for hours, in fact they've usually been there, in line, outside of Best Buy since 11pm the previous evening. That is nuts. The only time I'm going to stand in line that long is to meet Chuck Norris or go River Boat Gambling with Sean Connery. Standing in line is generally not one of our strong suites.
One of the main reasons we don't like shopping around is pretty simple. We like to go in with a plan. We know what we want and go straight to it, pick it up, pay for it and leave. If we're shopping for multiple people, we think about everything we are getting and go into town to purchase it all in one fatal swoop. If we don't know what we're buying for crazy old Aunt Marge yet, we don't look around for something to get her. Aunt Marge's present can wait until we figure out what to get for her and anyone else that we haven't figured out a suitable present for.
Most other men that I know, myself included, don't like hunting around for THE perfect gift, shirt or sweater. The only hunting we like to do is for something that could potentially kill us, like a pack of rabid wolves or a giant agitated moose in rut. Our mind works in a very simple and efficient way. We take in information and store it for later use. We try to be as practical as possible about things. When thinking of gifts for people, this information pops back up and we use it to figure out what to get for you. Once that's figured out, it goes on our mental list.
When looking for something for ourselves, like new pants, you know what we do? We buy the same crap we already have. Why? Because it works and we don't have to spend time figuring out what to buy. When I need new pants, I buy the same style of Levi's. They work. We know what we like and go straight to it almost every time.
The reason we don't like going shopping with women is very simple. You are the polar opposite when it comes to shopping. You like to find the best deals, the perfect sweater for the Christmas party and you want to find Aunt Marge a present while you're out. I'm not saying these are bad qualities, they're not. My wife finds more great deals on things than I could even dream of. I'm glad she does too, it makes it a little easier on an already close to empty wallet. What I'm trying to get at here is that women are in general, very patient. Men on the other hand, we want what we want, when we want it. Wow, that was a lot of W's. But it's the truth. Our gender is not very good at waiting unless we're up in a tree stand or in or beside a stream, lake or river. It's just how we are.
One last thing on our disdain for shopping, especially around the holidays. When you visit the mall from now until after the new year, there is one thing that you are guaranteed to see. A giant crowd of people. Before you even get into the mall, you are required to enter Mortal Combat with other drivers over parking spots. Everyone suddenly forgets everything they learned in Drivers Ed and all of their experiences driving. People become ticking time bombs. A lot of profanity, hand gestures and sometimes extremely creative facial expressions are used. It's frustrating. Finally, after yelling a lot of insults that you don't even know the meaning of and getting cut off and robbed of a parking spot for the 746th time, you find a parking spot, five miles from the mall. You're exstatic about it, but the battle isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
Once you defeat the Parking Lot of Doom, the next horrific phase of the Holiday Shopping Gauntlet is upon you. Working through a crowd of people who have no clue how to walk. I know that I for one don't do great in the holiday crowds at the mall. Since I'm a man and impatient by default, I can not stand being behind slow poke non-walking zombie shoppers and guess what? The mall is full of them! This is where our impatience really gets the best of us. We will repeatedly let out angry moans and sighs and start to get really red in the face. When we need to get to Old Navy and it's only 30 feet away but we know it will take us 10 minutes to get through the crowd, it makes us turn into the Incredible Hulk. We start throwing buses and kicking people into the next state until we reach Old Navy. We go in and find you a really nice, soft and luxurious scarf, get excited that that's one more present to cross off the list, pay for it and re-enter the crowd where we have to yet again Hulk it out so that we can get into Bath & Body Works to find you a glorious set of body wash, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. It's a vicious cycle and there's only so many garments we can destroy turning into the Hulk. Our happiest moment when shopping is the second we see that we're putting the mall in the rear view.
I hope this helps you understand why we despise shopping. It's not our fault really, it's just part of our impatient nature. It doesn't mean we love you any less, we just absolutely loathe shopping.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Christmas Season Is Coming...
So you asked your husband what he wants for Christmas. He most likely gave you a response like "I don't know, what do you want?" Well, he's not saying that just to annoy you. Yes, sometimes we do say things just to annoy you, but most of the time, we really have absolutely no clue what we want for Christmas. I'm going to give you ten awesome gift ideas. All, some or at least one of these items will make your husband super stoked.
1 - Flannel
We're men. We have an unexplainable attraction to flannel. No matter how many flannel shirts we have, we can always use another. When my wife asks me what I want for Christmas and I do have an answer right away, it usually involves flannel.
2 - A Knife
Most men carry a knife. It comes in handy more often then you might think. If we ever need to stab an angry bear, rescue a kitten or open a box, a knife is going to be necessary. Make sure it's a quality knife. Buck, Gerber, Kershaw. All great brands. Just don't buy one of the crazy swirly, multi-colored ones. If your husband wants one like that, let him get it on his own. As long as you keep functionality in mind, we'll pretty much enjoy any knife you get us.
3 - A Multi-Tool
Multi-Tools are awesome. They have a knife and a crap load of other mini-tools on there. It makes you feel like you have MacGyver on your side 24/7. You never know when we're going to need to disarm a complex bomb and fix someones glasses.
4 - A Watch
A nice timepiece is always good to have. When picking one out, think about what type of man your husband/boyfriend/whatever is. Does he like to hike and wrestle Wolverines? Does he work in an office all day hating everyone there? Think about it, then pick out something that is nice and timeless. Simple is usually the best route here, but make sure it is a reliable brand.
5 - A Membership to a Beer of the Month Club
I get sick of getting bills in the mail. I might feel a little better about it if once a month I was filled with immense joy from receiving a package full of awesome in the mail. Beer, delivered to my doorstep. Amazing.
6 - Hot Sauce Sampler Pack
I freaking love hot sauce. I put it in and on a lot of foods. Pizza, eggs, soup, tacos, quesadillas, the list goes on. A hot sauce sampler pack is great because you can usually find them at great prices and the variety is good. I can put a mild jalapeno hot sauce on my eggs one day, then burn my tongue off with a crazy Jamaican Habenero sauce the next.
7 - DVD Box Set
You absolutely can not go wrong with a super manly show on DVD that we can watch whenever you decide to let us... or when you're out and about. Some good ideas to start with are Man Vs. Wild, Band of Brothers, Myth Busters, Deadwood, Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch and the show about the gnarliest week of the year, Shark Week.
8 - Grill Tools
Men love grilling. When we're out driving around in the spring and summer doing stupid errands and we smell a charcoal grill going, we get simultaneously happy and jealous of that bastard that gets to be grilling meat while we go get toilet paper and Swiffers. If your husband doesn't already have a grill, call him a girl and force him to get one. Then get him some grill tools.
9 - Boots
I'm not talking dress boots or hiking boots. I'm talking man boots. Some Wolverines or Red Wings. Leather. Why do we like boots so much? I don't know. No one does. Maybe it's the fact that we feel like we can step on things harder. Who knows. It's one of those mysteries that will probably remain unsolved.
10 - An Awesome Back Pack
Back Packs are rad. Regular packs, hiking ones, it doesn't matter. We like to be able to stow things, or know that we will be able to if the occasion arises. Regardless of what you think, we will use it. We will.
So there's your list. I hope that you'll be able to find some awesome gifts for your man from it. If you look at this list and know that your husband won't like anything on it, I don't know what to tell you. He's obviously not awesome if none of those things will get him stoked.
1 - Flannel
We're men. We have an unexplainable attraction to flannel. No matter how many flannel shirts we have, we can always use another. When my wife asks me what I want for Christmas and I do have an answer right away, it usually involves flannel.
2 - A Knife
Most men carry a knife. It comes in handy more often then you might think. If we ever need to stab an angry bear, rescue a kitten or open a box, a knife is going to be necessary. Make sure it's a quality knife. Buck, Gerber, Kershaw. All great brands. Just don't buy one of the crazy swirly, multi-colored ones. If your husband wants one like that, let him get it on his own. As long as you keep functionality in mind, we'll pretty much enjoy any knife you get us.
3 - A Multi-Tool
Multi-Tools are awesome. They have a knife and a crap load of other mini-tools on there. It makes you feel like you have MacGyver on your side 24/7. You never know when we're going to need to disarm a complex bomb and fix someones glasses.
4 - A Watch
A nice timepiece is always good to have. When picking one out, think about what type of man your husband/boyfriend/whatever is. Does he like to hike and wrestle Wolverines? Does he work in an office all day hating everyone there? Think about it, then pick out something that is nice and timeless. Simple is usually the best route here, but make sure it is a reliable brand.
5 - A Membership to a Beer of the Month Club
I get sick of getting bills in the mail. I might feel a little better about it if once a month I was filled with immense joy from receiving a package full of awesome in the mail. Beer, delivered to my doorstep. Amazing.
6 - Hot Sauce Sampler Pack
I freaking love hot sauce. I put it in and on a lot of foods. Pizza, eggs, soup, tacos, quesadillas, the list goes on. A hot sauce sampler pack is great because you can usually find them at great prices and the variety is good. I can put a mild jalapeno hot sauce on my eggs one day, then burn my tongue off with a crazy Jamaican Habenero sauce the next.
7 - DVD Box Set
You absolutely can not go wrong with a super manly show on DVD that we can watch whenever you decide to let us... or when you're out and about. Some good ideas to start with are Man Vs. Wild, Band of Brothers, Myth Busters, Deadwood, Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch and the show about the gnarliest week of the year, Shark Week.
8 - Grill Tools
Men love grilling. When we're out driving around in the spring and summer doing stupid errands and we smell a charcoal grill going, we get simultaneously happy and jealous of that bastard that gets to be grilling meat while we go get toilet paper and Swiffers. If your husband doesn't already have a grill, call him a girl and force him to get one. Then get him some grill tools.
9 - Boots
I'm not talking dress boots or hiking boots. I'm talking man boots. Some Wolverines or Red Wings. Leather. Why do we like boots so much? I don't know. No one does. Maybe it's the fact that we feel like we can step on things harder. Who knows. It's one of those mysteries that will probably remain unsolved.
10 - An Awesome Back Pack
Back Packs are rad. Regular packs, hiking ones, it doesn't matter. We like to be able to stow things, or know that we will be able to if the occasion arises. Regardless of what you think, we will use it. We will.
So there's your list. I hope that you'll be able to find some awesome gifts for your man from it. If you look at this list and know that your husband won't like anything on it, I don't know what to tell you. He's obviously not awesome if none of those things will get him stoked.
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