Be quiet

Just a couple of weekends ago when all the family was gathered together for Fathers Day, my grandson was so excited about spending time with his uncle Jason that it occupied every ounce of his 40 lb body. He could no more relax or slow down his thinking than an excited puppy could stop wagging its tail. Such pure embracing of enthusiasm and excitement, it would appear to me, is reserved for the very young or only in times of great stress for the rest of us. Looking back I can think of just a few times when I felt completely consumed with such intense feelings. The first time I rode a bike. I was only 6 and training wheels weren't part of the equation. I was directed by my older sisters to ride straight down a gravel hill and when I reach the bottom, turn, so as to miss the large pile of dead tumble weeds at the bottom. I was so excited about riding I couldn't think of anything else. I picked my feet up off the ground and placed them on the pedals for the first time in my life. My sisters held the bike steady until I was ready for launch. I stared straight down the hill which seemed like a mountain at the time. They game me a push and off I went. Straight down the hill. Feeling every rock and bump and hanging on with both hands white knuckle tight! The bottom of the hill came all to soon and I forgot to turn. I flew over the handle bars and landed on my back in the middle of the tumble weeds. It felt like a million tiny needles all being stuck in you at the same time. That was all I rode that day. I had a few other occasions of total submersion into the moment but I don't want to walk you through 50+ years in just one blog so I will skip ahead with just a mention of the moments. The first time I got a hit on the ball in an official baseball game and actually made it to first base without being thrown out. My first date, ironically on bicycles. First day of college. When I asked my wife to marry me. Fortunately she answered quickly with out giving it much thought. My wedding day. The birth of my children X3. The birth of my grandson. In all these occasions, my mind seem to zoom past my, well, my thinking. My mind would race so fast from one thought or feeling to another that I couldn't really keep up with it. I have never jumped from a plane but I would imagine it to be something like that. You can see all the things on the ground but trying to focus on just one thing is impossible. Your eyes are gathering information from hundreds or thousands of different objects and your brain is doing all it can to try to keep up. While still out on the patio, I pulled Brady aside and encouraged him to slow down and try to regain some self control so we could all go in to eat. He tried, oh how he tried but the feeling was just too great. The emotions were too keen. If he didn't let out his excitement, I'm sure he would have exploded. Now that I am much older these moments come far less often. The only time I feel like I am going to explode is when I've had too much coffee. I think maybe it's the intensity of every experience that draws me to work with kids. They not only accept it but they embrace it with their whole being. I'm Dad and I'm just saying be quiet. Maybe when your older.

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there. I hope this Fathers Day is the best! Having been a father for over 28 years now, I can say few things give me greater pleasure then spending time with my sons. I was fortunate enough to have 3 sons! Nothing against daughters but I always wanted sons. Some of my most favorite memories is playing games around the table with them and their mother. I also loved watching them play sports. I never was able to stay in the stands and watch. I always had to get up and walk up and down the sidelines. Of course it was important that they won the game but even more important to me was that they were having fun and felt connected to the team. I remember special moments when I got to spend one on one time with each of my boys. The first time my middle son broke a board with his fist. (he had been taking karate) The camping trip I took with my oldest boy near the lake. The first time my youngest rode a bike without training wheels. All very special moments to me. I wish I had a photographic memory so I could recall every little look, comment, laugh, and tear of my boys when they were so young and vulnerable. I am reminded often of these moments with the expressions, comments, laughs, and tears of my grandson. I encourage my grandson often throughout the day to run faster, jump higher, laugh louder, and imagine bigger. I'm sure I did that with my own sons but I don't remember them all. I only hope that the encouragement I gave them is something that will come back to their memories as they spend time with their own kids and the words of encouragement will be multiplied over and over again.

I'm Dad -- I'm just saying, encourage your kids.

How do YOU define Added Value?

I went to the movie theater with my wife and best friend a couple of weekends ago. The movie was very good and the theater was very nice but... When I was a child, 8-12 years old, my friends and I could see a movie, get popcorn and coke all for 50 cents! Granted that was a few decades back but what is the added value that we are paying so much for now days? To get a plate of nachos at this theater it will cost you $9.00! Sodas and popcorn start at $5, EACH! I remember as a child watching the westerns at the movie theater. We all cheered when the good guy came in to take out the bad guy. We all booed when the bad guy took off with the lady in distress. It was great fun and excitement. We didn't watch the movie as a collection of individuals in the same place at the same time. We watched the movie as a group. A group of people united with the same goal in mind. See the good guy win, the bad guy lose, the horse get a kiss from the good guy and to have a great time.

The same thoughts apply to a kite I made with my grandson this last week. To be honest, I didn't make any home made from scratch kites when I was growing up. However, the store bought kites were made of paper, dow rods and string which is exactly the same way we made our kite. We didn't have any paper designed with a super hero so we used the newspaper. Come to think of it, given the news of late that was probably the best use for it. We glued the paper around the string and tied an old neck tie onto the bottom for the tail. It had its virgin flight just yesterday. It didn't fly as high as some of the commercial made kites would but that really didn't matter. What was important was that it flew and it was something we made ourselves with our own hands.

I'm Dad and I'm just saying, added values isn't all about what you get out of something. Sometimes it's what you put into something.