To think this is a good christmas idea for my husband?

[Christmasideafordaddy]

My child is 10 months old at Christmas and i'm trying to think of an idea to get my husband 'from my son' for his first christmas as a dad.

He doesn't want a new wallet, doesn't wear watches, doesn't have any giftable hobbies such as golf etc. and i bought him a keyring and photoframe of him and our son for his birthday.

My husband is however an occasional whisky drinker. I thought about buying two nice crystal personalised whisky glasses (one for husband and one for son) and a bottle of whisky in a wooden box. Then add a note 'from my son' to basically say 'Daddy save this whisky until my 18th Birthday so we can share a drink when I come of age'.

Of course the whisky in this gift is the least important part - it doesn't matter if they drink water, wine, whisky or coca-cola. It was more a sentimental idea for my son and husband to have a special moment (My husbands dad was not around so he is desperate to ensure he is a big part of our childs life - so having the moment 'booked in' for his 18th birthday would be the most important part for my husband).

However, is this pathetic? Is it bad to buy whisky from a not even 1 year old? Am I buying something to cause an 18 year anti-climax if my son refused to partake when he's 18?

Or is it a sweet gesture that my husband will love now, and likely get forgotten about when my son is 18 so it doesn't matter at all?

This is a very sweet idea and similar to something I did with my son at a young age for DP - a memento to be used together in the future. With hindsight I would say don’t do it and get something for now. You don’t know what the future holds and there are many things which could make this future gift cause you pain. My son has severe learning difficulties and autism and needs round the clock care, and the lovely gift I put together when he was a year old is nothing but a reminder of the life we had planned but will no longer have. As much as I love my son it is quite painful and I wish I’d just bought a worlds best dad mug!

Obviously this is really specific and of course I’m not saying this will happen to you! Just that you have no idea what the future holds so enjoy the ‘now’ as much as possible and get something he can use and enjoy now.

I think this is a great idea.

I love this idea!!! In fact I am going to copy it for my other half's 40th in a couple of years time so thank you for the inspiration. I just need to work out what a "decent" bottle of whisky is now that was from my hubs year of birth that can mature another 16 years

i am going to go against most of the posts here and say I think this is a horribly twee and overly sentimental idea. If someone did this for me I’d think they’d lost their head but it depends on what your husband is like as a person and whether he is into that sort of thing.

I hate the idea of an 17 year expectation laden gift. Seems a recipe for disappointment all round, and tomorrow is never promised. It makes even less sense if you can’t even afford an expensive whisky. A bottle of bog standard supermarket whisky that no one can drink for 17 years is a waste of a gift.

Just plan a nice day out for your husband and son to share in the next few months and take a photo of you all together if you really can’t think of a gift. Your son won’t remember it, but you two will.

Great idea. I think it's lovely. And will be special in 17 y time

Much better idea

Same here. I have a 18 year old son (and a daughter). Don’t wait to enjoy things, 18 years is a long time for a dusty old bottle to be sitting on a shelf. Would you do the same if you had a daughter?

Agree. Horrible idea, especially if it’s s random supermarket whiskey. I can’t see the point. If I had done that my son would have thought it was odd. And he doesn’t like whiskey. 😅

The whiskey would probably have evaporated by then..

Even if your son doesn't drink whiskey or alcohol at all, your husband can still have a glass of it while your son has rum or diet coke or even tap water in his glass if he wants.

Your husband is not going to be gutted if your son doesn't want a glass of whiskey from the bottle on his 18th birthday.

Or alternatively you could always just buy a pair of father/son glasses and still write the message about sharing a drink together when they are your son turns 18. And that way it won't matter what is put in the glasses when that day rolls around.

There is nothing to say that your husband can't use the father glass in the meantime.

I think it's strange for a baby to buy alcohol. A special engraved glass sounds nicer and can be used da

I think this is a better idea.

My suggestion would be to buy a personalised ‘Dad’ glass from DS.
By the whiskey from yourself.

DH can enjoy using his Dad glass for years to come

He can tell your son it was a gift from the first Christmas etc

I agree.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to buy him something he can’t use for 18 years - I’d absolutely hate that.

And I don’t think it’s a good idea to buy your child a whisky glass assuming he’s going to be drinking at 18 - if he’s not then that’s 18 years of waiting down the drain!

Get DH a personalised glass and let him use it.

He could even get DS one on his 18th birthday too as the sentimental part.

I think it's a good idea. There's a nice Talisker whiskey on decent offer in tesco at the moment.

I actually think it's a really nice idea. Admittedly I would omit the "to daddy" slightly cringey note (controversial i know) as it would be cute now but realistically it's not going to cute in 18 years. Maybe something a little more timeless like

"To dad,
To save for my 18th Birthday,
From your son, Ted"

If you like the note then that's obviously fine, just a suggestion as it might not resonate with your husband or your son in a few years. (It wouldn't resonate with me and I would probably cringe a bit looking at it)

I think it would be nice, especially if you can get a whisky made the year your son was born.

I think that's lovely and totally tugged my heartstrings and that's not easy to do! You can replace the bottle with what your son actually drinks when he is 18.

Another one who is not keen on this idea for a few reasons- I don't like the expectation that your son is definitely going to be drinking whisky. There's enough social pressure on us all to drink without adding to it. I also think it sets up a very specific picture of what a good father-son relationship is like, whereas actually there are all sorts of ways in which their relationship might turn out and in which your son might develop, and it's good to be open to all possibilities. I think having a bottle of whisky hanging around for 18 years might get a bit irritating (and bear in mind that whisky doesn't develop in the bottle, only in the cask- it's not like wine) and there's a good chance that someone will accidentally open it before the time has passed. And I find it a bit twee.

I much prefer the personalised glass idea someone suggested above. Another idea is to go to a ceramic cafe and do a handprint or footprint mug or plate- I did this 16 years ago and am very pleased I did as we now enjoy marvelling at the tiny footprint on the plate compared to DS's size 11s!

I agree i think this is the better idea as well.

When my dad was alive, he'd got a special bottle of whisky given to him. (Something to do with officers whisky and one of the recent wars, Afghanistan, possibly.) He was saving it for my son's 18th birthday.

He died a few years ago, and left me with a whole heap of his debts and all sorts to sort. But, we managed to find the whisky and it's away ready for my son's 18th birthday in a couple of months.

It's possibly the only nice thing my dad ever did. (He was an alcoholic, so the very fact he didn't drink this particular bottle of whisky was a miracle).

He was a difficult man, but this is going to be a special moment because I will have a tot of it with my son and tell him the story, and for once it'll be a nice story (even if does still involve booze!)

Does my story help you decide?

It's a nice idea, but use decent whiskey and store it properly. We opened a bottle of Talisker we'd got as a wedding present, on our 20th anniversary (tbh it was lockdown and there wasn't much else to do).

Hi all, thanks for the thoughts I really appreciate it.

I must say alot of you have vastly different opinions than me, particularly around drinking. I don't feel like giving an 18 year old a drink of whisky is encouraging spirit drinking, and I remember my dad ans uncle giving me my first whisky (at 16) and I didn't like it, so I didn't drink it, but the moment is still special as we had lots of laughs at my reaction to the drink.

I don't believe in tempting fate, I fully believe whatever happens happens and buying a bottle of whisky won't change the course of our future. Though appreciate the points made that it could become a sad reminder of a future that didn't turn out like we expected. I didn't consider this at all, so thanks for pointing it out.

I do think it's completely bonkers that just because I can't afford a 3/4 figure whisky then it's pointless - unfortunately not everyone is rich, and to a lower working class family a £50 bottle of whisky is an expensive drink to save for special occasions.

I've had a rethink taking in your suggestions and going to skip the note r.e saving it until his 18 and just buy two glasses (one for each) and a nice whisky. Then my husband can decide whether to use them now or save them until my sons older.

Perhaps when my son is old enough to use glass rather than plastic or sippy cups he can 'copy' his dad and share an apple juice together in his special glass.

Also for those who asked, I would or 100% done this if we had a daughter, and for the next child we have (regardless of gender) I will buy another glass to add to the collection.

However the idea of buying a 2022 whisky is also a great idea I may look into to save for the future!

What about Membership of the Scottish Malt Whiskey Society?

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