Occasion HandbookHolidays 41 examples

What to Write in a Father’s Day Card

Most Father’s Day cards say nothing, because the joke card does the talking. One straight sentence under the joke is the whole difference — and it is the sentence he keeps.

Season’s Greetings Happy Father’s Day. Have agood one. PRINTED YOURS
1 2 3 GREETING THE SPECIFIC LINE YOUR NAME
The card that gets kept is three sentences, and only the middle one is hard.
  1. 1The greeting. Any of the usual ones. This part is not the work
  2. 2One specific thing only they would recognise — this is the whole card
  3. 3Your name, in full if there is any chance they will not place you

Short and safe

  1. 1 Happy Father’s Day. Have a good one.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 2 Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Thank you for everything.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 3 Happy Father’s Day. Feet up, phone off.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 4 Wishing you a very happy Father’s Day.
    Tone FormalLength Very short
  5. 5 Happy Father’s Day. Owed to you many times over.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

The straight sentence under the joke

If you buy a funny card, this is the line to add. It is the reason the card gets kept.

  1. 6 Joke aside — thank you for everything you did that I only noticed later.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 7 You have been steady my whole life and I have never said so directly. Saying it now.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 8 Thank you for turning up to every single thing, including the boring ones.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  4. 9 I did not appreciate half of it at the time. I do now.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

Naming one specific thing

  1. 10 Happy Father’s Day. Thank you for teaching me to drive without once raising your voice.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 11 Thank you for the year you worked two jobs. I understood what it cost about twenty years later.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 12 Happy Father’s Day. I still fix things the way you showed me, badly and with confidence.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  4. 13 Thank you for sitting through every fixture in the rain.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

Funny, and still affectionate

  1. 14 Happy Father’s Day. Your jokes have not improved and I have started telling them.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  2. 15 Happy Father’s Day. Thank you for the DIY, the advice, and the running commentary on the route.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 16 Happy Father’s Day. I am told I am becoming you. I have stopped fighting it.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  4. 17 Happy Father’s Day. Still the only person who checks the tyre pressure before a journey.
    Tone WarmLength Short

From a young child

  1. 18 Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 19 Happy Father’s Day. You are the best at building things.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 20 Happy Father’s Day. Thank you for playing with me.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

For a new father

  1. 21 Happy first Father’s Day. You are already better at it than you expected to be.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 22 Happy first Father’s Day. Nobody knows what they are doing. You are doing fine.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  3. 23 Happy Father’s Day. He has your exact expression when he is annoyed. Good luck.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a grandfather

  1. 24 Happy Father’s Day, Grandad. Two generations of us have had the same advice and most of it was right.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 25 Thank you for having the patience with them that you may not remember having with me.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 26 Happy Father’s Day. The stories are being retold and they are getting better.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a father-in-law

  1. 27 Happy Father’s Day, with thanks for a warm welcome into the family.
    Tone FormalLength Short
  2. 28 Happy Father’s Day. Thank you for the help with the house — we would still be at it without you.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 29 Happy Father’s Day. You raised someone very good, which I benefit from daily.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a stepfather, or someone who did the job

  1. 30 Happy Father’s Day. You chose this, which counts for more, not less.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 31 Thank you for stepping into something complicated and staying.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 32 Happy Father’s Day. The title is imprecise; the thanks is not.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For your husband or partner, from the children

  1. 33 Happy Father’s Day. They are lucky and they will work that out eventually.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 34 Happy Father’s Day from all of us. You do far more of this than anyone outside the house sees.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 35 Happy Father’s Day. Today you are not doing bath time.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

When the relationship is difficult

  1. 36 Happy Father’s Day. Thinking of you today.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 37 Happy Father’s Day. I hope the day is a good one.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  3. 38 Happy Father’s Day. Not everything has been easy, and I did not want the day to pass unmarked.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For someone whose father has died

  1. 39 Thinking of you today. Father’s Day is a hard one and I know it.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 40 Thinking of you and of your dad today.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 41 Today will be heavy. Around all day if you want company.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

Questions people actually ask

What do you write in a Father’s Day card?

One specific thing he did, and what it meant. "Thank you for teaching me to drive without once raising your voice" is a better card than any amount of general praise.

What do you write in a funny Father’s Day card?

Buy the joke, then add one sincere sentence underneath it. The joke gets the laugh on the day and the sentence is what stays in the drawer.

What do you write in a first Father’s Day card?

Tell him he is doing better than he thinks. New fathers get very little reassurance and it is worth putting some in writing.

What do you write when your father has died?

Many people write the card anyway and keep it, or write to their father in it. There is no wrong way to spend the day, and nothing you have to send.