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Why is it so hard to shop for Dad on Father’s Day? Could it be that Dad really doesn’t want you to spend your money on a store bought Father’s Day gift?

This time of year “Great Ideas for Father’s Day Gifts” are rampant in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet, and more often than not they aren’t great ideas.

The whole problem with Father’s Day is Dads don’t really like being pampered.

There’s something unmanly, and particularly un-Dadly, about being pampered or showered with pricey gifts. Even if you do decide to splurge on that pricy gift, and

Dad will lecture you on the value of a hard-earned dollar.

The Orlando Sentinel tries to explain why Dad is hard to buy for:

“I think people have stronger bonds to moms than they do to dads,” said Steve Kirn, director of the University of Florida’s David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research. Also, men are generally considered tougher to buy for.

“What do you give guys?” he said. “A tie? Nobody wears ties. A golf club? You run out of ideas pretty quick.”

This frustrates buyers and causes many to skip Father’s Day gift buying all together. A survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for the shopping site RetailMeNot  shows that nearly half of adults (46%) say they typically spend a grand whopping total of $0 on Father’s Day presents.

That seems just fine with many fathers. According to the survey, the most popular “gift,” chosen by 40% of dads, was “quality time with family (dinner, grilling, outing) for Father’s Day.” In a distant second place was a gift card, selected by 13% of dads. Well, actually the second-most popular option was for no gift whatsoever—chosen by 22% of fathers.

So instead of some cool gadget this Father’s Day, why not just spend some time with Dad this weekend.