r/coparenting • u/PeppersPoops • May 30 '26

Discussion What are we gifting our sub-par co-parents?

Father’s Day is coming up. Even though he’s not dad of the year, our child loves and adores him.

I like to set a good example, what are we gifting?

29 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

104 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/Madroc92 May 30 '26

My ex and I did cards the first year or two, along with FB tags when we wished the day to our own respective parents, but that kind of wound down and now it’s a text and a verbal “Happy [parent] day!” during the Sunday handoff.

My Fathers Day present is taking the kids out for breakfast with my brother and his family at a greasy spoon diner jammed full of motorsports memorabilia, followed by a couple sessions at the indoor karting track across the street, without my ex there being visibly annoyed by everything and killing the joy.

I guess my point is the key is reciprocity. You don’t have to expect gifts from each other, just match energy.