Haha, hit the nail on the head I think, Mr. Haines. Men *do* seem like simpler creatures, and I agree—grilling at home and drinking a cold beer sounds like a perfect Father's Day (though I'm not a dad). Also, speaking personally, I don't really need a card and/or flowers as a gift for any occasion. And I'd assume many men feel the same way?

I don't fish and neither does my husband. Or my daughters.

You may not, but many people do, Becca has an important point, at least here regionally.

Courtney, great comment! .."if as a parent, we only feel loved or appreciated one day out of the year, then we haven't done a very good job of teaching our sons how to show their affection and appreciation, right?" In our family -- focusing on the "holiday" we try to make it a point to try to hang out. I think it's more about the togetherness than the gifts. But....for some reason I always have trouble trying to figure out what to get my dad as a little token of appreciation. Does anyone else have the same challenge?

I love this idea, of picking random days to celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day. Because all parents (and children) are different, why should we celebrate all on the same day?

I agree, brilliant. If everyone did this then we could have Random Person Day on a very specific date.

I like the idea of personalizing it too. I personally think that many of the holidays have turned in to "Hallmark Day" so regardless of the original intent, it feels like they are too focused on "stuff."
Neither of my parents live in MN and I am not a parent, so we don't really "do" anything for these days now, but if we did I think a nice meal together as a family would be great, skip all the ties and imported flowers, which many of us wait to buy at the last minute anyway, so it doesn't seem that special and thought out... but that's just my perception.
Honestly, I think younger people are having consumption fatigue and a general push away from buying things, so I hope holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day will become more about family again and less about finding the perfect gift.

Ok, I guess I need to edit my comment about Father's Day becoming more about family "again." Just read a little history and though the original advocate did it in honor of her father who raised her and five siblings as a single father, the later push (1920's) was mostly by "trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and any traditional present to fathers."

Also, BTW, the first attempt to designate Father's Day in Congress was in 1913, but "Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized."