Young Dads Explain What They Really Want for Father's Day

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Father's Day might be the toughest of the gift-buying holidays. Rather than round up a bunch of neckties and cufflinks, we asked some recent fathers what they'd really like to get on Sunday. The answers ranged from "I have no material needs" to "Zamboni lessons" to "more sleep" (that last one was especially popular.) Below are 20 more suggestions, all sourced from anonymous New York City dads. Feel free to use this as a cheat sheet for upcoming birthdays, too.

1) "A high end racing wheel set for my road bike."

2) "Brooklyn Nets gear, obviously."

3) "I genuinely want a tool set. Never had one. I don't want a hand-forged-in-Brooklyn one or a Hermes one, but I do kind of want one good enough for a lifetime."

4) "I want to know how to look under the hood of a car and not feel like a total pussy. Surely there must be a basic mechanic class so I can identify engine parts and have a vague understanding of what makes a car go."

5) "More sleep and time to exercise would be a the top of the list. Ignoring time constraints: German lessons."

6) "I want a watch from WestCoasTime. I just haven't been able to decide which one."

7) "A Filson briefcase bag. Work appropriate yet not sell-out-your-soul business-y. Highly recommended."

8) "A Beer of the Month Club membership. (Never fails. Stinky Bklyn has one that delivers for free.)"

9) "I want a cheap Glamping experience at Floyd Bennett Field: someone sets up a tent with air mattress and sheets and leaves raw meat and fixings for me to grill over a wood fire. I show up and enjoy, maybe with friends whose wives/kids/partners have given them the same gift."

10) "Tickets to any of the good soccer exhibition games in NYC this summer (Real Madrid-AC Milan or Chelsea-Paris Saint Germain at Yankee Stadium, Tottenham-Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.)"

11) "This is my #1 tip for anyone buying a gift for a guy: Tickets to one of the awesome booze events at the Astor Center. I've done a couple of them (a beer one and a Mixology 101 one) and they're so fun. This has Father's Day written all over it."

12) "Time to golf and a good night's sleep."

13) "I want a well-edited compilation video of family clips and photos set to a soundtrack of my favorite music. I'm sure there are companies out there that do kind of middle-of-the-road iMovie versions of this, but I'm thinking more like a music video that we're really excited to watch again and again."

14) "I'm a sucker for the Ephemera (actual weird vintage paper goods, not the cutesy stationery) at Present&Correct."

14) "A platza at the Russian Baths."

15) "Fly fishing lessons. People say that once you learn how to do it, it is the only fishing you ever want to do."

16) "A night with that special someone at the Standard NY or Wythe Hotel to GET AWAY FROM THE CRYING AND SCREAMING AND THE NO SLEEP FOR ONE GODDAMN NIGHT."

18) "I would like to be given a week on a Lockmaster."

19) "I live in a relatively small place, so I try not to add anything material—which is fine because most of my desires are experiential these days. I've gotten back into swimming, and realize from spending time at the pool that my form is not like the other, better swimmers who swim by me and do cool flip turns. I'd love a lesson or two to make the most of my time in the water."

20) "Motorcycle lessons. I'm not saying we are definitely heading for a post-apocalyptic Mad Max type future, but there have been enough depictions of that possibility that I think knowing how to ride a motorcycle could potentially come in handy."