As Father’s dad rapidly approach I wanted to pose a question. What moment as a dad made you proud or think”Yes! My kid gets it!” I would ask please keep this fun and light hearted. No politics. Being a dad truly transcends all politics and ideologies. One example from my distant past My kid was sick so I mowed our yard. He had been mowing the yard for years but I thought he need some rest so did it for him. When he woke up he hugged me, said thank you and then said But dad.. let me do it from now on.. your lines aren’t perfect and I take a lot of pride in how I make the yard look! He said it with a smile and I knew he was picking on me… but the fact that he took so much pride in a mundane chore.. made me Proud.
When our Pastor asked my number 4 child(number 3 daughter of 4) how she would go home and tell me she was pregnant and she told him she would never have to make that choice because I always told my 5 children, life is about decisions and bad decisions are usually accompanied by bad consequences
Back when my oldest son was a teenager my neighbor and I took him bowhunting for the first time. I had bought him a youth sized bow and made him practice until he was a pretty good shot. Then a week before deer season we took him out in the woods and set up a tree stand for him a hundred or so yards off the main trail then flagged the trail so he could go in by himself and find it. Opening day on the way in we saw a couple of black bears along the trail. We parked the truck and headed to our tree stands. Shortly after dark that evening my neighbor and I waited for Michael at the truck. When he finally got there he told us he was afraid to climb down out of his stand because he had seen a bear wandering around just before dusk. As we were loading up to leave I noticed he didn't have his canteen with him. I asked him where it was and he said he left it in his tree stand. I told him he needed to go back and get it. He said, "But the bears?". We made him go anyway. When he left my neighbor had this brilliant idea. We would hide in the bushes along the trail and scare the crap out of him when he came out. My neighbor hid a few yards from the truck and I went about 20 yds farther in and picked my hiding spot. When Michael came along I let him pass me then when he approached Dave's hiding spot Dave jumped out at him and growled like a bear. Michael screamed and went running back up the trail. When he got to me I jumped out growling. He broke down and just started screaming. To this day 30+ years later we have not let him live that down. He says he learned his lesson that day.....never trust your friends or your dad they will screw with you anytime they get the chance.
I started laughing long before the end!!! I knew what was about to happen! I did something similar to my nephew!!!
This may not make much sense, but when my son was young he was obsessed with the REAL “fill in the blank”. The real Rocky Mountains, the real Florida, the real pool party. He had some sense that he was getting some counterfeit version of things & would get pretty upset. It’s been an inside joke ever since. My wife & I are in Morocco & have used this joke a lot in the last few days; the real Sahara, the real Fez, etc. In fact last night we saw that there is an African country called The Gambia. My wife said why “The Gambia?” I said to distinguish it from The Real Gambia. a few Januaries ago we were in the mighty San Juans having dinner with old friends & our son was with us. It was sat night & we planned to leave the next morning but a whopper of a blizzard was coming & it was leave now or be stranded for days. So we headed out. We did not beat the storm & we got caught in a horrendous blizzard on Wolf Creek pass. I could not see past the hood & had to use the left lane so I could creep along using the mt side as a guide. My wife was freaking out & wanted me to just stop in the road & call 911. It was tense & my wife & I were arguing & scared. From the back seat my son said, now this is the real Colorado.
Can’t believe we will lose my oldest to College next year. Not sure there is a moment of man they get it. However I will say there was one moment that I remember with the three that provides a story which imo helped mold them into the great kids/young adults they are becoming. I had all three in the car youngest was old enough but pretty darn young. And they were bickering with all the self centered the world revolves around me nonsense as we were headed to something fun. I let it go until they could not. At that point I found the first turn in the median. Yanked the car into it and slammed the breaks. Gave them all a quick “the world does not revolve around you” speech and put it back drive. Really quiet ride after that. But truly believe my kiddos understand everything is not about them. It is about making others better. That moment is not reason they have grown into such great people. But I sure think it was part of it. Thankful for my Dad to instill in me what I am trying to instill into my kids! Happy Fathers Day!!!
My oldest boy was 10 when I took him to “The Swindle in the Swamp”. We were getting some food on the way home at the Sonny’s in Ocala. He had seen several FSUcks shirts that day. While we were eating he said; “Dad FSU really does suck don’t they”. The only bright moment of an otherwise miserable day.
