Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! To celebrate today, Mothercare have asked if Mr P would like to take over my blog for a day. So here he is….

Over to Mr P

It’s that time of year again, when dads across the land can rejoice in the wonder and splendour that is fatherhood (and get a couple of pressies to boot!) Talking of presents though, the choice of ‘stuff’ that our beloved families get to choose from can be a bit of the ‘socks and slippers’ variety. So here’s my top ten things, experiences and some silliness that would make ace Father’s Day presents:

1. A super lie in. Not one that ends at 8am, like they often do as a parent, but one that lasts until I say so!
2. A day at the races (motor or horse kind!)
3. A selection of worldwide beers. The twist being that I can have ALL of them because someone has arranged for me to be absent from work the next day!
4. A theme park day. This has been arranged with only dads being allowed to go on the best rides! This means spending time with the family, but also cuts down on queuing time.
5. Beige buffet all day long. Crisps, scotch eggs, sausage rolls, pizza, onion bhajis, you get the idea. Houmous is NOT allowed because it’s not baked or fried!
6. Father’s Day to be renamed West Wing day. You will refer to me as Mr President and I’ll be eating all the food as mentioned in no.5 whilst seeing if I can break my personal record of watching more than 12 episodes in one day.
7. A giant Haribo sweet is made in my likeness and it tastes good!
8. Being a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car à la Top Gear!
9. An old style trolley dash in a technology store.
10. A BBQ hosted by Barbecoa in my back garden with lashings of their finest meat products and the best damn BBQ to cook it on you’ve ever seen!

Clearly I live in a dreamworld so if none of these are possible then a handmade card, a fry up to end all fry ups and no “Dad you’re soooo embarrassing!” comments when I say or do something silly!

If any dads are reading, what would your ultimate Father’s Day prezzies be?

• Thanks to Mothercare for asking us to get involved with their #Fathercare campaign – research done by them, to celebrate Father’s Day, reveals fresh insights into the role of the modern-day dad, including their desire for equal involvement in raising the kids. More than two thirds (65%) of dads say that inflexible working hours interfere with their parenting duties, and given the choice 69% state that they would prefer to work part time in order to focus on childcare. Perhaps surprisingly, more than half (55%) state that they would prefer to take on the primary parenting role to become ‘stay at home’ dads. When is comes to dads-to-be, the majority welcome the new parental leave law, with 70% planning on splitting leave with their partners in the first year with their new baby.

Have you seen Mothercare also changed the signage outside their Oxford Street branch this week, to say Fathercare? I thought it was genius.