Teachable moments can come from a wide variety of sources, including other parents. From time to time parents write blogs for us that we think you will find interesting, useful, or entertaining. Please enjoy this post from a fellow parent.

Ties. Socks. Electric razors. Grill tools. T-shirts with funny sayings. Ball caps with funny sayings. ‘Day Off’ coupons. Cologne.

All are good Father’s Day gifts.

But, in the long run, the items above have come and gone. The Father’s Day gifts that I still have are instead one-of-a-kind masterpieces. Made by little hands, they aren’t always suitable for framing, but they are always memorable. And they are always heartfelt.

And that’s why I’ve kept them. I can’t bear to throw them away.

Here’s a selection of some of my favorites.

This one is perfection in its simplicity. No extra words to clutter up the sentiment. No extra colors to distract. Plus, there is something about the backwards ‘r,’ the misshapen ‘y,’ and the indecipherable mix of capital and lower case letters that makes it one of the prize members of my Father’s Day collection.

In contrast, this piece is positively bursting with style and design finesse. My son was, when he made this, going through a Pokemon phase and was adept at tracing. Overall a solid design, and I would award him extra points for the shadows on the text…not an easy thing to do. I do wish he could have added some color, at least to the flames coming out of Charizard’s mouth.

Could a Father’s Day card get any better than this one? Not in my book. It’s colorful. It’s cut in the shape of a heart. It’s perfect. I suspect my daughter had a little help with the first five words, but the signature is priceless. This one stays on the top of my pile of Best Father’s Day Gifts Ever!