Friday, September 22, 2006
Spare time
I have had some people ask me what I do with my spare time. Actually, I do not have very much spare time. Being a father to my sons is where I spend much of my time. I spend the other parts of my day working on a Honey-do list that T has given me. Some of those things are very difficult to accomplish with a 3 year old and a 9 month old under my supervision. I am referring to the dresser. With the boys going away the last couple of weekends, I had a chance to finish the dresser. This weekend they went to their Aunt's in Indianapolis and, weather permitting, I will finish the nightstands!
When I picked up C1 from preschool yesterday, he very cheerfully said he has The Nature Box! I know you must be thinking "what is The Nature Box?" I was thinking the same thing. C1's teacher told me that directions were in the box. I said ok and C1 and I left for home with The Nature Box in hand. The directions were to go outside and help C1 find something. Like a stick, flower, acorn or anything like that. Then C1 and I would write down 3 clues about the item. Then today he returns The Nature Box, and his classmates try to guess what is inside the box. Here are the clues: 1. It growns in our yard. 2. They are round and have a stem. 3. Some types are poisonous. Can you guess what it is? C1 was very excited to be in charge of The Nature Box. It was fun for T and I too.
At age 3, C1 learns a great deal from asking questions like "What is that?" or "What is that for?" and I answer his questions as best as I can. Most questions are very easy for a 37 year old dad to answer, and more importantly most answers I give C1, satisfy him. He asked me a simple question one day that I had trouble with. "Daddy, can Spiderman talk?" I replied "of course he can". That was easy I thought. Then came the stumper... "how can he talk without a mouth?" Um... I am not sure.
C1 and I went to the Willard High School football game last night. Wow, the whole town was there. I haven't been to a H.S. football game since I went to a game at my old high school when I was a freshman in college. For the record, there are cooler things to do than go to your old high school's football game when you are a freshman in college. Anyway... C1 told me all day he wanted to go to the football game so we went.
I was excited because it really makes you feel connected to the town when you go and cheer on the home team. We didn't cheer too much though. I mean I don't know anyone on the team, or any coaches or for that matter, I didnt know
anyone. I only rooted for the Flashes because it's our hometown. And now that C1 is in the Willard School system I sort of feel he is a Jr. Flash. As I saw other fathers cheering on their sons, I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to stand there 14 years from now cheering on C1 and C2. Just as the 1st quarter ended, my imagining came to a halt when C1 looked down from my shoulders and said "I wanna go home". I asked him what he enjoyed more, watching the football game or watching the kids run around. He said "watching the kids run around". I knew our time was limited. I told him we'd go home in a few minutes. So just before halftime, we walked hand in hand out of the athletic complex. Yeah, I spent $5 to watch 15 minutes of football with absolutely nobody I knew in attendance, but going to your local H.S. football game with your 3 year old son is still pretty cool. By the way, Final score: Willard Crimson Flashes 6, Lexington Minutemen 15
