The Anecdotal Life Part. 17
The other morning ABC held a discussion between two fathers. One's advice, which he delivered with so much assurance that I paused to consider it as valid, was that a father should get right in there in their children's faces and lives and be involved in what they do.
I was in physical therapy for my hand at the time with two other fathers sitting at the table. I thought about my father and laughed.
When I told them "pop" pretty much made sure if he had a spare minute that I get involved in what he was involved in. Since he coached Football, Basketball, Baseball, loved airplanes, all machinery, and every kid in town, I found myself as soon as he could toss me up on my bike, ferrying lunches to the baseball field, skipping into the gym dodging basketballs and all the "shirts and the skins", hotfooting it down to Ford Field to watch every football game, meeting all the players who trooped through the house, playing with every kind of ball for whatever kind of game, getting a ride to the airport every darn Sunday, eating strawberry ice cream only until I was ten and finally organized a butterscotch and chocolate revolt, and figured that was the way the world was for everybody. The two other fathers said their fathers had to work too hard to have much time for them and I understood that. My dad had a big job and we had to respect it.
Neither my father nor my mother planned or organized our play when we could break free. They turned us out the door and only intervened if we did something stupid or were seriously threatened by someone. I watch parents now in Little League and it makes me sick. Can't those parents go find some fun on their own? How will those kids learn to think or decide for themselves if they are not left on their own? Granted the world seems to be a little screwier, but I don't think kids should think they are the center of the universe and I think they need some unstructured, unobtrusively monitored time of their own. So Happy Father's Day to all the dads and maybe you shouldn't feel too guilty if you are not always right in there with some activity your child has. There's ways to let them know you are around and care.
Copyright: June 18th, 2006.
I was in physical therapy for my hand at the time with two other fathers sitting at the table. I thought about my father and laughed.
When I told them "pop" pretty much made sure if he had a spare minute that I get involved in what he was involved in. Since he coached Football, Basketball, Baseball, loved airplanes, all machinery, and every kid in town, I found myself as soon as he could toss me up on my bike, ferrying lunches to the baseball field, skipping into the gym dodging basketballs and all the "shirts and the skins", hotfooting it down to Ford Field to watch every football game, meeting all the players who trooped through the house, playing with every kind of ball for whatever kind of game, getting a ride to the airport every darn Sunday, eating strawberry ice cream only until I was ten and finally organized a butterscotch and chocolate revolt, and figured that was the way the world was for everybody. The two other fathers said their fathers had to work too hard to have much time for them and I understood that. My dad had a big job and we had to respect it.
Neither my father nor my mother planned or organized our play when we could break free. They turned us out the door and only intervened if we did something stupid or were seriously threatened by someone. I watch parents now in Little League and it makes me sick. Can't those parents go find some fun on their own? How will those kids learn to think or decide for themselves if they are not left on their own? Granted the world seems to be a little screwier, but I don't think kids should think they are the center of the universe and I think they need some unstructured, unobtrusively monitored time of their own. So Happy Father's Day to all the dads and maybe you shouldn't feel too guilty if you are not always right in there with some activity your child has. There's ways to let them know you are around and care.
Copyright: June 18th, 2006.
posted by The Anecdotal Life at 4:47 AM
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