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This weekend holds a special place in my heart. I’m excited for two reasons. First, this will be the first Father’s Day I get to celebrate as a dad. Yes! I will definitely enjoy every minute of this 24 hour period (starting with sleeping in).

Secondly, this week’s Romantic Thing To Do is a perfect opportunity to share my excitement AND be romantic at the same time.

Story Time

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I have to share a story with you. This past mother’s day, my partner had one request. All she wanted to do in the whole wide world to celebrating mother’s day was to sleep in. She didn’t want a romantic getaway. She didn’t want a romantic dinner. She didn’t even want flowers. (I know all of this because I asked in a not-so-secret sort of way.)

I had made some minor plans, but wanted to give her what she wanted (the first rule of being romantic). That meant taking care of our little one in the morning (which I’m always happy to do), no matter how long she slept in. Well, needless to say, she woke up at 10 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep.

We hung out as a family until I received a phone call from one of my aunts reminding me that we were going to take some photos that afternoon. I had totally forgot! But it was such a beautiful day, and my sweetie was okay with it, so we went and took photos by the river….on Mother’s Day.

When my family heard about this, many of them were aghast. How could you leave her alone with your daughter on Mother’s Day! What kind of romantic person are you?! Kory, I can’t believe you. Yep, I did. A sunny day in Portland during that time of year was too enticing to pass up and yes, I went out.

So needless to say, now that it’s Father’s Day, it would only be fair for her to go and do something fun and leave me at home alone with the little one.

Moral of the Story

Use my experience to help you be romantic this Father’s Day. If you are a father, tell your partner you don’t want a gift. You don’t want dinner out. You don’t want flowers. All you want for Father’s Day is for your partner to go and do something nice for themselves. Tell them to go and get a mani or a pedi (I’m learning the lingo) or a signature full body massage.

And if your partner is a father, you can send him on a quest to do something fun for himself. Purchase a gift certificate to a relaxing place of your choice for him. Attach to this certificate a small note saying how happy you are that he is the father of your children. Place it in an envelope and seal it with a kiss. And voila! You’ve just added 10 more brownie points to your get out of the doghouse bank account.

I know I don’t mind building up my reserves.

Stay romantic.

From massages to haircuts, to manicures and pedicures, check out Avenue Salon Spa. They make me feel like a king and will make your sweetheart feel extra special. Tell them PDX Romantic sent you.