Falling Behind Fast
First, Happy Father's day to all the dads out there, past, present, and future. I looked at my Facebook page earlier and a friend posted a story which said FB profile pics had reached new highs today with members placing photos of their fathers for the day. It was pretty neat to see so many of my friends' dads as their profile pics. So many black and white photos, so many old ones, very cool. I know each photo held a special place in each individual's heart.
Most of the pics were of bygone eras; with times, dates and people lost to the world and only significant in their memories. Yet most of the dads seemed to have that "oh yeah, I'm the man" look :). I'm sure they once were. One cool thing about father's day in my opinion is we honor that guy who was once the king of cool to us. The guy who was the strongest man on earth, the smartest human in the universe (well to everyone but mom usually). Most dads are considered heroes to their kids at one point or another.
I am at the twilight of my hero status. My oldest son graduated high school on Friday. His younger brother is getting ready to start high school in the fall. Both of them are now taller than me and while I act like I can keep up with them in just about anything, I usually find myself bowing out with an excuse of "I forgot I had to go do something" before I get blown away. I'm lucky in that my boys still have a shred of awe left for me (or are nice enough to act that way). Dad still comes to the rescue every once in awhile, but I'm falling fast. I'm straddling that time in a man's life between when he is a hero to his kids and when he becomes a confidant and mentor. Between the time when all I say is the law and the time when what I say is a whisper in my sons' ear to guide them in the right direction. In sports lingo, that time between when you go from being the star player, to being the new coach.
I don't mind the change as a part of me longs to see my boys become the men I hope they become. I look forward to watching them grow into productive citizens, and most importantly, good husbands and fathers.
But every once in awhile, super-papa pops out still trying to save the day. I'm quite immature (ask anyone who knows me) thus I anticipate this behavior will continue to be the case for years to come. My argument is I will be that cool grandpa for a little while before senility sets in. I don't know, sounds like a good excuse to me.
Regardless, I hope 10 or 20 years from now, if FB is still going or if my sons are subscribed to whatever the newfangled thing is of the day, that at that point long after they've learned dad is far from a perfect man; long after they stopped believing I was the strongest, fastest, smartest, coolest man in the world, they still find some embarrasing photo of their dad and post it on father's day.
If I'm still alive and kickin', I will swoop in once again to save the day wearing the cape my kids made for me when they were 10 and 6. It just may take me till Labor Day to show.
Most of the pics were of bygone eras; with times, dates and people lost to the world and only significant in their memories. Yet most of the dads seemed to have that "oh yeah, I'm the man" look :). I'm sure they once were. One cool thing about father's day in my opinion is we honor that guy who was once the king of cool to us. The guy who was the strongest man on earth, the smartest human in the universe (well to everyone but mom usually). Most dads are considered heroes to their kids at one point or another.
I am at the twilight of my hero status. My oldest son graduated high school on Friday. His younger brother is getting ready to start high school in the fall. Both of them are now taller than me and while I act like I can keep up with them in just about anything, I usually find myself bowing out with an excuse of "I forgot I had to go do something" before I get blown away. I'm lucky in that my boys still have a shred of awe left for me (or are nice enough to act that way). Dad still comes to the rescue every once in awhile, but I'm falling fast. I'm straddling that time in a man's life between when he is a hero to his kids and when he becomes a confidant and mentor. Between the time when all I say is the law and the time when what I say is a whisper in my sons' ear to guide them in the right direction. In sports lingo, that time between when you go from being the star player, to being the new coach.
I don't mind the change as a part of me longs to see my boys become the men I hope they become. I look forward to watching them grow into productive citizens, and most importantly, good husbands and fathers.
But every once in awhile, super-papa pops out still trying to save the day. I'm quite immature (ask anyone who knows me) thus I anticipate this behavior will continue to be the case for years to come. My argument is I will be that cool grandpa for a little while before senility sets in. I don't know, sounds like a good excuse to me.
Regardless, I hope 10 or 20 years from now, if FB is still going or if my sons are subscribed to whatever the newfangled thing is of the day, that at that point long after they've learned dad is far from a perfect man; long after they stopped believing I was the strongest, fastest, smartest, coolest man in the world, they still find some embarrasing photo of their dad and post it on father's day.
If I'm still alive and kickin', I will swoop in once again to save the day wearing the cape my kids made for me when they were 10 and 6. It just may take me till Labor Day to show.
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