Fatherhood is All About the Unscripted Moments - Cardstore

This post is sponsored. The words and opinions are mine. The videos are theirs.

The nice thing about writing a blog is that I get to take moments out of my day, package them in pretty prose, and make myself sound twice as witty as when they actually happened. Have you ever walked away from a tense conversation and then spent the rest of the night going over and over it in your head, consistently coming to those, "I should have said that!" moments? Well, start a blog. Then you can say everything exactly how you wish you would have said it. Being a parent. Being a father. Not so much. I can practice over and over how I am going to convince Duchess not to try an climb onto the roof, but the moment she starts up the side of the patio all my planning goes out the window and I am in full daddy-improv mode.

I recently signed on with Cardstore to help them out with their Father's Day campaign. You probably recognize the name Cardstore from their mega viral #worldstoughestjob campaign in May. In case you don't remember, here's the spot from just before Mother's Day.



My first thought when I saw that spot was,"Ahhh, I love my mom." My second thought was, "I think diamond mining in Africa is probably the world's toughest job." My third thought was, "I think they are being hyperbolic for a reason, and you shouldn't take things so literally John." My fourth thought was, "Why are you thinking in the third person. That is weird." And then FINALLY I thought, "Wait a minute! What about dads!!"

Turned out a lot of dads were having the same thought around the same time. I wasn't outraged. I wasn't even really miffed. I just wanted my own incredibly well produced commercial with real people put in a funny situation and a twist set to sentimental piano music at the end that resulted in an AH-HA moment that made me want to call my dad too! Well, leave it to American Greetings and Cardstore, or whoever Cardstore's agency is (seriously, keep these folks on board Cardstore, because they are worth every penny.) They delivered. They delivered so well I was tearing up in my office earlier this week. I'm kind of in love with this spot, and here is why. They give these dads all these stereotypical doofus dad lines to recite and the actors are clearly stilted and uncomfortable. Then they just ask them to be dads, and suddenly... well, just watch it. 

And that is it! That is so it! Every time I try and fit myself into some sort of predetermined dad mold, I fail. But sometimes, when I stop trying to be every dad, and I just close my eyes find that feeling in my gut, look my kids in the eyes and become a dad, it just feels natural. And I thought this spot captured it beautifully. 

So what does this have to do with greeting cards? Well, to me it means that they get it. American Greetings and Cardstore want me to be me. I don't have to fit into some predetermined mold of what a dad is any more than I need to buy a card with a predetermined picture and saying inside. Using the Cardstore website I was able to create a custom card for my dad that was exactly what I wanted to say. It took me less than ten minutes, and it will be delivered to his mailbox before Father's Day. Check it out!

I call him dad. The kids call him papa. 

I typed out at least 10 different versions. Some of them were over 40 words. Then I realized I only needed nine

Quick check out and I was done! Easy peasy.

So there you go. Cardstore by American Greetings. Check them out if you are interested. You still have until June 9 to order your cards and have them arrive by Father's Day. Here's a discount code to get your card at the discounted rate of $2.49 is you order before 06/09: CCG4527