Celebrating Father’s Day the Right Way

Look, we all know the drill. Father’s Day rolls around every third Sunday in June, and suddenly everyone’s scrambling to find the perfect gift — which, let’s be honest, usually ends up being a gift card or a new grill tool set. But before we write off the holiday as just another hallmark occasion, let’s take a minute to actually appreciate what it means — and what the data says about how America feels about its dads.

A Holiday That Had to Fight for Respect

Fitting, right? Even the holiday itself had a rough road to legitimacy.

The most widely accepted origin of Father’s Day traces back to Spokane, Washington in 1909, when Sonora Smart Dodd — a woman raised by her single father after her mother died in childbirth — sat in church on Mother’s Day and wondered why there wasn’t a day to honor fathers, too.

She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910.

But here’s the kicker — Father’s Day has only been officially recognized in the United States since 1972, nearly 60 years after Mother’s Day became a holiday. So yeah, dads had to wait a little longer than moms for their official day. Seems about right.

Many men, however, continued to disdain the day. As one historian notes, they “scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving.” Some things never change.

The Business of Dad

Fast forward to today, and Father’s Day is a very big deal — financially speaking. In 2025, Americans shelled out $24 billion on Father’s Day celebrations, including gifts and other items such as meals or outings, according to an annual survey from the National Retail Federation.

Father’s Day continues to rank as the sixth most popular American holiday, trailing just behind the Super Bowl and ahead of Halloween. The Super Bowl. Dad’s Day beats Halloween. Let that sink in.

And with an estimated 72 million fathers across the nation — 29 million of whom are also grandfathers — there’s no shortage of people worth celebrating.

Do Dads Even Care? (Spoiler: Yes.)

Here’s where things get a little interesting. A survey by Swagbucks found that 20% of people think dads don’t actually care about Father’s Day. Those people are wrong — or at least, 74% of dads say they are. Three-quarters of fathers confirmed they do, in fact, care about the holiday. Shocking, we know.

And what do those dads actually want? Turns out, it’s simpler than you’d think. According to that same Swagbucks survey, 31% of people believe their father would prefer quality time with the family over any gift. So maybe skip the Amazon Prime panic-shopping and just show up.

For those who do want to bring something to the party, the most popular gift choices — in order — are gift cards, followed by clothing, then something related to dad’s favorite hobby. So if your dad is into fishing, woodworking or watching three sports simultaneously on one TV, you’ve got a pretty solid roadmap.

Busting the “Bumbling Dad” Stereotype

Can we talk about how unfair it is that pop culture has spent decades portraying dads as glorified babysitters who can’t figure out the microwave? According to the Swagbucks survey, dads are not here for it.

• 51% of dads are tired of the stereotype that they’re a bad babysitter of their own kids. (Spoiler: watching your own children is called parenting, not babysitting.)
• 47% of dads are equally done with the idea that they can’t cook.

Dads are capable humans. Who knew?

What Dads Actually Teach Us

Here’s the part that might actually make you want to call your dad today. According to the Swagbucks survey, 87% of people say they’ve learned a valuable life lesson from their father. And 37% say their dad specifically taught them how to be handy around the house — which, if you’ve ever tried to fix a leaky faucet without knowing what you’re doing, you know is genuinely priceless knowledge.

A separate survey by Not Your Father’s Root Beer digs even deeper into the dad-as-teacher dynamic:

• 30% of people say their father taught them how to cook (so much for that “can’t cook” stereotype)
• 30% of people say their father taught them how to manage money
• 25% of Millennials say their dad taught them how to clean
• 14% of people say their father introduced them to beer — a rite of passage, apparently
• And a completely relatable 8% of people say their dad taught them how to hide junk food from mom

That last one is peak dad energy and we respect it entirely.

The Top 10 Skills Dads Pass Down

According to the Not Your Father’s Root Beer survey, here’s what dads are out here teaching — ranked by how often they pass it on:

1. How to ride a bike
2. How to drive a car
3. Repair and maintenance
4. Decision-making skills
5. Money management
6. How to change a tire
7. Leadership
8. How to read a map (a lost art, truly)
9. How to deal with stress and problems
10. Cooking

The Bottom Line

Whether your dad is a grill master, a DIY legend, a closet junk-food hoarder or simply the guy who always showed up — he’s worth celebrating. Father’s Day helps demonstrate the importance and value of fatherhood, and the gifts beyond material goods that a father bestows on his children and family.

So this Father’s Day, skip the last-minute panic, put down the novelty socks, and maybe — just maybe — give him what that 31% already figured out he wants: your time.

He’ll pretend he doesn’t care. He absolutely does.