Dads Share the Sweetest, Most Heartwarming Father’s Day Gifts They’ve Ever Received

The stories on this list made us officially overrule our plan to get dad a tie he'll hardly wear.

Channel your inner fanboy

"My son loves Darth Vader (despite the fact that he's never seen any Star Wars' movies). Every week for a month when we would go grocery shopping, he would stop by the rack that had the key chains, whisper something to his younger brother and then nonchalantly ask, 'Dad, you like Star Wars, right?' It was obvious what I was getting for Father's Day. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge Star Wars' fan! Plus, there's nothing worse (for me at least) than a pocket full of bulging keys. For the past year, I haven't been able to put my keys in my pocket and everyone assumes I'm a Star Wars' nerd. But when I think of how proud my son was to give it to me, well, I'll always be sporting my Darth Vader key chain. I can only pray for a new key chain this Father's Day!" —Gerald Craft, Washington, father of two

Score special tickets to the big game

"This year, my twin sister and I are surprising our dad with tickets to an MLB All-Star game in Miami's Marlins Park when he comes to visit. (Our dad is a baseball-loving, retired Army veteran living in Panama.) He was here last on devastating terms, the sudden funeral of one of his closest friends, his brother. This return to Florida will be special for many reasons: a reunion, the game, Father's Day, and our dad's 60th birthday (also in July). Our dad is frugal and simple and rarely asks for anything; we knew we wanted to accomplish this dream for him." —Luisa Irene Yen, Florida

Outdo yourselves with food, music, and love

"For Father's Day, we have a tradition to visit new restaurants that play fun music. We've tried places that serve Russian, Argentinian, and Colombian food. Last year the family took me to a good ol' American cafe. We listened to country music on the way. I can't wait to see where we 'travel' this year and what new music we will listen to in the car." —Edward L. De La Loza, California, father of two

Start the day with "dad" pancakes. End it with a game.

"My favorite Father's Day celebration was two years ago. The day began with an amazing brunch with pancakes that spelled "DAD" and a picture frame from my daughter. Then we made a trip to Madison Square Garden to see a New York Liberty basketball game. My daughter and I were on the Dad Cam and we caught a free T-shirt and stepped onto the Garden floor." —Christopher Persley, co-organizer of NYC Dads Group, New York, one child

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Why Do You Believe in Superstititons? Here’s What the Science Says

Most Americans know superstitions are nonsense. But why do more than 50 percent of people still believe in them?

By their very definition, according to Merriam-Webster, superstitions are nonsensical: “A belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.” In other words, a superstition is “an action that is inconsistent with science,” Stuart Vyse, a psychologist and professor at Connecticut College, told CBS.

Still, for a set of supposedly irrational beliefs, superstitions have a surprisingly large following. An estimated 17 to 21 million people in America. are afraid of Friday the 13th, 74 percent of those in the U.K. say they knock on wood to avoid bad luck, and 13 percent of Americans cringe at the sight of a black cat.

So why does more than 50 percent of the country, as per a recent Gallop poll, consider themselves superstitious? And why, even when people don’t truly believe superstitions can impact our fate, do they continue to participate in them?

For one, superstitions have been ingrained in our lives since the very beginning. “People teach them to us when we’re young,” Vyse, the author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition, told LifeHacker. “They’re part of the lore of any culture. The basic process of socialization is a major part of it.”

Secondly, they can be a soothing control mechanism. “We live in a world where you can’t always control the outcome,” says Vyse. “Superstitions tend to emerge in those contexts. You do everything you possibly can to ensure that things will work out.” Together, those two factors have made a very real impact.

“One of the interesting things about superstitions is their seemingly arbitrary nature,” Tom Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University, told CBS. “Like, why 13? Why black cats? Why can’t you walk under that ladder? It has no rational bearing. Yet somehow you feel like you’re tempting fate, and the outcome, a bad outcome, that could befall you is going to be worse because you deliberately did something that people say you shouldn’t do.”

Evolution might also be at play here. “A prehistoric human might associate rustling grass with the approach of a predator and hide. Most of the time, the wind will have caused the sound, but if a group of lions is coming, there’s a huge benefit to not being around,” Kevin Foster, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, told the New Scientist.

Speaking of the benefit of superstitions, many of the ones that indicate good fortune—a lucky penny or a trusty charm bracelet—can have their perks. In one study published inPsychological Science, researchers gave golf balls to all of their participants and told half that their golf ball was lucky. The subjects with the “lucky” golf balls made 35 percent more successful putts.

“Feeling lucky gave them a better sense of self-efficacy (a belief in your own competence), which then enhanced their performance with the golf playing,” Matthew Hutson, science writer and author of The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking, told LifeHacker about the study. “The same researcher did several other experiments where she crossed fingers for them or the subjects had lucky charms on them. Their superstition helped them perform better on certain cognitive tasks, memory games, and physical tasks.”

So go ahead and wear your trusty charm bracelet, and ditch your fear of Friday the 13th. It could bring you a little bit of—dare we say—luck.

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