Tag: quarantine

fathers day gifts stay at home edition

Father’s Day Gifts: The Stay-at-Home Edition

Life’s annual celebrations look a little different this year. But if you give it even a moment’s thought, the reasons to be grateful sure do mount up. And during stressful times, it’s more important than ever—and more beneficial to your health—to focus on them. Are you grateful to have a fab dad in your life? Then celebrate your love for him with a thoughtful Father’s Day gift that’s just right for the moment.  

The Gift of Connection

Social distancing has lots of us looking for new and more engaging ways to stay in touch. Many of us have turned to social media, but by their very nature, they’re public places where you may not want to share your most personal thoughts and images. However, a Nixplay Smart Digital Photo Frame makes having a direct connection to Dad easy. It’s Wifi-enabled and compatible with your smartphone, so you can share images and videos in real-time. Dad can watch his granddaughter take her first steps or blow out her birthday candles along with you.

The Gift of Comfort

When you give a present to someone, do you ever wonder whether the recipient will really use it? Well, there’s one thing all of us do every day and that’s sleep. Upgrade your dad’s mattress and you can be sure your gift will be appreciated on a nightly basis. The best mattresses will give your dad a decade or more of comfort and support—not to mention the rest he deserves after raising you!

Gifts from the Garden

The world has gone greener since the global pandemic hit. More people are turning to home vegetable gardening as a soothing hobby. Gardening is a great, gentle exercise for people of all ages, and it puts food on the table at a time when fears about food shortages are top of mind. The more fresh veggies your dad puts on his plate, the better he’ll look and feel. From seeds and other supplies to trowels and trimmers, there are dozens of affordable gifts you can give to encourage Dad’s green thumb. 

The Gift of Companionship

Maybe you can’t be with your dad as often as you’d like, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep him company. One feel-good story that’s come out of the global pandemic is that pet shelters around the globe have seen a delightful dip in occupancy. A lovable mutt can brighten anybody’s day, after all! You can also adopt family-friendly dogs like golden retrievers (or less active breeds like bulldogs and Bichon Frises) from dedicated rescue organizations around the country.

Studies have found that pet owners enjoy better health and, statistically, they even live longer. And you want your dad to be around a long time, don’t you? Think of all the Father’s Day gifts you can buy—and how much fun he can have as he uses his Nixplay Frame to share photos and videos of his pup’s antics to you and the rest of the family!

The Gift of Good Health

New stay-at-home guidelines have us all doing more cooking. Nutritionists recommend grilling as one of the healthiest cooking techniques. Whether your dad’s grill skills are legendary or apprentice-level, a new gas grill, charcoal grill, or even a smoker could really up his game. And it can help him ease into socially-distanced outdoor entertaining.

Is he already armed for battle with grilling gear? You could try sending a box of perfectly-aged, organic steaks, or a subscription to a wine club (red wines have heart-healthy benefits!). If he’s missing his pub fries or Friday fish and chips, an air fryer delivered to his doorstep will give him the fried crispness he craves minus the calories and excess cholesterol. 

The Gift of Accomplishment

In homes across America, dads are checking stuff off of their to-do lists at speeds that were previously unheard of. That’s because, strangely, the coronavirus itself has given us one very special gift: the gift of time. And lots of dads are using it to be very productive around the home.

You’ve probably noticed the uptick of home improvement projects on your Instagram or Facebook feeds. Photos of newly painted decks, immaculately organized garages, and shiny refinished floors are popping up everywhere. Mechanical and power tools are a great way to support your DIY dad’s skills and help him tackle the projects he’s been wanting to complete around the house.

The Gift of Getting Away

Summer vacation season has taken a hit, with airline travel restrictions, beach closures, and other health regulations in place. But when you’ve been tethered to home for months, you don’t have to go far to feel like you’re getting a break from your routine. Why not plan a boredom-busting weekend for your dad at a nearby bed-and-breakfast? If your dad loves fishing, find one near a lake. If he’s golfer, find one located near the best course he can get to in a day-trip. 

Susan Doktor is a journalist and business strategist who hails from New York City. She writes, guest- and ghost-blogs on a wide range of topics including health and fitness, parenting, finance, and technology. Follow her on Twitter @branddoktor.

7 Great Ideas For Spending Quality Time At Home With Your Family

7 Great Ideas For Spending Quality Time At Home With Your Family

There’s no better time than the present to learn fun ways to spend quality time with your family. Keeping things fresh and exciting is the best way to bond during difficult periods and keep everyone entertained.

Here are seven great ideas for spending quality time at home with your family.

Schedule a Games Night

Set a standing date for an at-home game night. Do a weekly rotation that allows everyone to choose a game. If your options are limited, reach out to community members and do a temporary swap so that everyone gets a chance to play something new.

Instead of defaulting to the same old board games, shake things up with an RPG. Grab a D&D dice set online and start a campaign that spans over a few evenings. Alternatively, look at interactive multimedia games like JackBox, so that the whole family can play from their devices.

Have an Ultimate Movie Bucketlist

Set a timer and have everyone sit down and write their favorite movies. This is an opportunity for the parents to shine. Write down a bunch of movies from your childhood that you want to share with your children. With streaming services and online portals, it’s easier than ever to revisit your old favorites.

If you’re at a loss for what movies to include, there are plenty of lists online that outline the best family movies of all time. You can even schedule themes or marathons for extended periods of downtime.

Schedule Tech-Free Hours

Technology is both a blessing and a curse. Schedule tech-free hours in your household in which everyone leaves their phones and tablets in a common area. Use this time to come together and talk about your day or share some snacks and conversation.

Pick up a few conversation prompt cards to discover new things about the people you live with or play a rousing game of “Would You Rather?”

Get Cooking Together

Cooking is an essential life skill that children can start to learn at a young age. Empower your kids to choose a recipe each week that they’d like to make for supper. Grab the supplies and have them in the kitchen helping.

Young children can help with measuring, stirring, and collecting items. Older kids can learn how to cut food safely and cook it with supervision and help. Cooking together is a great bonding experience, and also takes the pressure off the parents for meal planning.

Schedule a Porch Project Photoshoot

The Porch Project is a family photo shoot project in which a photographer snaps a couple of pictures of your family sitting on your doorstep. The idea is that it promotes the #stayathome movement. You can create your own Porch Project photo with a smartphone.

Schedule your photo shoot as you would a regular appointment. Give everyone time to pick out a fancy outfit that they love and put themselves together. This is an excellent way to feel human, especially if you’ve been in the house for a while. Print those photos out or have them commissioned into a custom piece of art using one of these Instapainting packages.

Take an Online Course

Learn new things together by taking an online course. You can do a child-centric program like The CEO Kid or something broader that you can learn together as a family. Keep an open mind when choosing an online course and give everyone a chance to pick something that appeals to them.

Some ideas for online courses include:

  • learning a new language
  • learning how to code
  • taking dance lessons
  • personal development courses
  • fitness training (yoga, for example)
  • acting classes

Pursue your passions and learn some neat things together as a family.

Get Gardening

Gardening offers a lot of benefits to families looking to spend quality time together at home. For example:

  • It’s versatile. You can grow a garden in your kitchen window, on your balcony, or in your yard.
  • It benefits the environment.
  • You can grow healthy food to eat later.
  • You can offer seedlings as gifts.
  • It’s a science lesson.
  • It teaches responsibility.

Choose some things to grow and have your kids be responsible for various tasks. You can also create a log of your experience, with the kids adding their observations each day.

With these seven fun family activities, you have fun together while being safe at home.

Wendy Dessler is a super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.

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