Dads are parents too!

Toronto ON - Once only considered as the breadwinner of the family, today's fathers are more likely to be involved in the day-to-day caregiving of their children and are no longer the forgotten parent – good news for the 3.7 million fathers in Canada with children under the age of 18.

CityTV's Modern Family is on to something: today there are no such things as traditional family roles and responsibilities between men and women. Dads are ever-present just like mom. And they can be just as sentimental as moms. This Father's Day show your dad lots of 'affordable' love by making something yourself or creating a memory that will live forever between the two of you.

"These 'special days' can really burn a hole in someone's pocket if they haven't saved any money to buy a gift. And with the rise in the number of same-sex couples, some children may be buying for two father figures this year," says Jeffrey Schwartz, executive director of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada, Inc. "I look forward to receiving something made especially for me; it's all about the thought that went into the gift, not the money spent.

Sandy C. from Nova Scotia is enrolled in Consolidated Credit's Debt Management Program. She considers herself to be "in training" as she learns to budget and control her spending, even on gifts, by living within her means.

"A trip to the local dollar store plus using what was on-hand, I made a scrapbook for my dad as his Father's Day gift," says Sandy. "It turned out great! Rather than waiting for June 17th I have already given it to him and he was thrilled I'd gone to the effort of making it myself."

Creating a scrapbook or memory book may not be what you want to give your dad for Father's Day this year. However, there are many other affordable gift ideas for dad; in fact they may be quite similar to what you may have given mom for Mother's Day, such as:

• Making a donation in dad's honour to his favorite charity or to the Canadian Father Involvement Initiative who's mission is to develop strong, healthy children by affirming and valuing the bond between fathers and their children
• Spending time together riding a favourite bike path or participating in the Father's Day Walk/Run in support of Prostate Cancer
• Offering compliments and praise – Dads need them just as much as moms
• Creating a handmade gift, like Sandy's scrapbook, never goes out of style and will be always treasured
• Doing dad's chores around the house, whether it be mowing the lawn, washing the cars, cooking dinner or vacuuming, will be appreciated
• Filling his MP3 player with music he can use to exercise by, relax or read a book – this is time consuming and dad probably has very little time to spare