So I am getting a glimmer of what life might be like when your child is in school full time. It was strange to not have my half pint side kick at my side. But since she is so excited to go every morning,I think we made the right choice in sending her and also to the right place. Now on to business of finding a new vocation. Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
So here I sit on Fathers day writing an article about Fatherhood. A week ago I was looking for a job to fill the time when I would not be taking care of my daughter and the job offer comes the day before I go off on a 2 day camping trip. I guess that is one of the mysteries of life, that when you are most busy is when good things happen. But when you are idle, the phone never rings.
But I digress.
Fatherhood has an elusive definition. Try to Google it and you will see what I mean. Some may think of the role as the rule maker, enforcer and provider; molded on the Victorian ideal of how men and women should act, or perhaps, a man considerers his roll to be one where men do not speak much, but when they do, it is with authority. Having a toddler will certainly challenge that belief. I might muster my best Father know best tone, only to be Shushed by my 3 year old.
I know that recently the role of Father has become synonymous with incompetence, (think Homer Simpson). In our modern age the role of Dad has devolved into one of a comic punch line. But one cannot look to Hollywood for role models as there are far too many bad examples of fathers, real and invented, that the few exceptional dads are all but eclipsed.
So where does that leave us enlightened men of San Francisco to carve out our personal definitions and find our role models? I suggest a camping trip to help you get back to basics. You will have to: Pack up the car with everything you will need for the duration of your adventure; set up shelter and cook food for your family, all while fending off large raccoons and swarms of mosquitoes. Then break it all down pack it all up and drive everyone home in time for school and work on Monday.
While no man can be all things to all people, on a camping trip you can be the man who fed and sheltered his family. No matter how you come to define it, Fatherhood is a state of being which each man needs to discover in his own way.
I titled this article with a quote from Corinthians about how you give up childish ways when you become a man, but I think that a later part of the passage is what resonates most with me, and substitute Dad or Papa for Love.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. .-1 Corinthians 13
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This is the face of a child who didn't sleep through the night,woke up at a relatively late(for us)7:00, swam and then didn't nap. I was tired. I needed a nap. I don't know what will happen when she no longer needs a nap. More on this later....
Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
So all of the activities that we normally have planned were put on
hold for the winter and it stuck me how quickly one gets used to a
routine and that before you can really think about what is happening
you have scheduled away all of your free time.
So here we are at the beginning of a new year and I am struck by how having an under 5er changes not only the possibility of your saturday night but also the aspirations of it as well. Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
So this is the end result of going christmas shopping with my daughter. Now we did manage to leave the store without a huge fit and no tears were shed. It really would have been all my fault if she did have a meltdown, as it is I can barely make it out of a modern store without the urge to purchase something. So be warned that if you think you can peek into a shop to look at something for the holidays, think again. Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
I used to lie in bed with the wife reading the paper, joking about how this would all change once we decided to have a baby. Little did I know how right I was and how sleep effects your decision making and personality.
We have finally decided to let one another sleep in on given days. It really is a nice treat to get once a week. I wonder how having a second baby will work?
So I hope that everyone had a great meal and shared some old stories with family and friends. I came into this weekend expecting the worst and planned to hunker down to try to remember to not say anything I would later regret. I have been pleasantly surprised how well everyone got along.
Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
Where is that fine line between getting away from it all and same shit different venue?
Sent from my Dick Tracy watch®
