Sounds like you and I have the same father. Never can please him no matter how hard I try.

My Dad was the most fun person to buy for. If it had several buttons, ran on batteries or had maple flavoring he was a happy man. I bought him every conceivable electronic that ran on batteries and he was thrilled with each one. One year I ventured into new territory and bought him one of those Jelly Belly gumball machines and an assortment of Jelly Bellies....he was so happy. I guess the mechanical turn crank was just as good as buttons.

I miss my Dad.

Michelle

My dad was easy once I figure out his vice. A box of king-size Snickers bars. There was one year I gave him a gift certificate to an upscale ice cream shop (he loved ice cream). He groused and moaned about the expense of their ice cream and how he'd have been just as happy with a quart of Dreyers...then I noticed six months later when he was giving me a ride somewhere and I offered to treat him to ice cream as a "thank you" that EVERY employee in that "fru fru" shop knew him by name! LOL !

My Dad was also a foodie, but an easy one to please. I used to come home from CA with as many bottles of wine as I could get in my luggage. I'd send boxes of treats from our upscale stores and importers for birthdays and Father's Day.

In the last few years when he couldn't travel as much I'd send meals from Balducci's since the restaurants in Waterloo IA weren't the most upscale. Like Michelle, I miss him. My mother is the one it's hard to please. (Although completed photo albums make her happy.)

San, cute story. My dad always liked gimmicky electronic things. One year I bought him an electric pencil sharpener and he thought he had died and gone to heaven. Unfortunately, several years later he did.
It's my hubby who is picky.
Just give that dad of yours a great big hug, and appreciate him while you have him, crotchety or not.
Sherry

san...the older the get the more they feel the need to say it how they feel it! LOL

My MIL used to say "at my age I can say what I want, whose going to argue! " Sure can be frustrating!

My dad also loved his goodies. If I sent him fancy chocolates, he was a happy man. He really loved those chocolate cups that you served liquors in. He was always a kid at heart when it came to food. This Dec. 24th he would have been 92. Hard to believe he has been gone now 20 years. Mom misses him the most, especially this time of year.
Clare

Poor San, give him some restaurant gift certificates or go back to the clothes buying.

My Dad didn't care as long as it was loaded with sugar.

He was also a gimmick lover and button pusher.

san, you might want to take a look at www.spoon.com
Noone ever complains..it's all good.

Nancy

oh kathy--i'm sorry to hear that! i figure dad really has been pleased along the way but he's not gonna let us know that because it would just be out of character, ya know? anyway, that's the way i hope it is, and for you too! attached is a pic from this summer when i went home for a visit and includes my little sister and her daughter. you'd think he'd smile then but again, it's not his way.

but he most assuredly loves us and was always one of the hardest working men i know! my oldest brother was born with a number of problems and needed numerous operations through his young adulthood. insurance didn't cover that--dad worked several jobs for a number of years to take care of things. fortunately, the other 4 of us were fine but man, not a decent set of teeth in the house! we all had braces because they thought that was important, even if we weren't exactly thrilled at the time. in fact, i remember being particularly resistant to the idea but i'm certainly happy my parents were smart enough to just plod on and take care of things. the other important thing was education. we were free to pick a career but by golly, we were going to college! i have no idea how they did it, but each of us was given that opportunity and a couple of us even finished! but i don't recall that turning him into a grinning fool either--not even when my youngest brother got his JD and a couple years later, his PHD. it's just not his way, you know?

i'm sorry some of you are missing your dads--i do know what that's like. Mom died 20 years ago and that's been harder on poor pop than anything else i'm sure. he said at the time that his biggest regret was that they didn't get to celebrate their 50th anniversary--they only made it to about 46. sure wish i knew a way to fix that one...

but it's almost time to pack up his christmas box. and we found the cardigan sweater vests that he wears all winter long and that i wasn't able to find the last 2 years. maybe it won't exactly make him smile, but i think it might at least please him a little bit. that and a few more cadbury bars and an extra large jar of WHOLE cashews (old family joke) and NO dry or clumpy popcorn, even though i know he'll be eating the nuts and the chocolates instead of breakfast. but at 91, i think he ought to be doing whatever he wants, don't you? happy birthday again, pop!

Here is a link that might be useful: dad and crew

San....I know how you feel. My Dad was the hardiest person in the world to please,when it came to buying him gifts. Everything was the wrong color, the wrong size,to dry, too salty, too hot and not cold enough. There was no pleasing him. One birthday I went out shopping for his Birthday, and I knew he liked fishing,so I wanted to get him a fishing trip he would remember. I sent him Marlin fishing in Mexico. Well he didn't want to go, but we made him. When he got back, he complained it was the worst time of his life. The weather was too hot, the fish were not biting, and the food, and water in Mexico, made him sick. Well I was very upset, because the trip was very expensive, and the very least he could do was lie and just say that he enjoyed it. I was mad at him for a whole year!!! The next birthday he turned 50 and this is what I bought him...............

I have Dad stories too but my favorite more recent story is when he complained that Ken put too much chicken in the chicken soup. Gimme a break. Most times he's a PITA - but I still love him :)

too much chicken in the chicken soup, huh? imagine that! bob must have been having a bad day THAT day, LOL!

diana--i'm really sorry to hear about that beautiful trip you planned for your dad. you must have been terribly disappointed... but that fish? i love it! you caused me to laugh out loud! dad used to love to fish and his sense of humor can be a little goofy at times. somehow i can't help but wonder if he wouldn't actually get a kick out of that! thanx alot for sharing that story!