As with most male species there is a bonding ritual that takes place between a father and a child, for some it maybe going to a baseball game, for others it maybe hanging out in the garage working on the family car. But for me and "Flip" it is going the the "Man Store" aka. the local Hardware Store. This is a place where no "girls" are found alone, unless they are invited by a "Man". We go there just to check out the tools, to pick up some items needed for a "Honey Do" project or to sit on the Lawn Tractor and make motor noises. (I know it is a cheap thill, but to a 5 year old it is a great time).
Watching him sit on these tractors and seeing his face light up with delight is what fatherhood is all about. With the advent of video games and other electronic gagets to "waste" our children's time it is fun to see something as simple as sitting on a lawn tractor entertaining a child.
A while back a good friend and I was reminissing about the "Good 'Ol Day's", no not back in the 1940's or 50's, but back when we were teenagers. He grew up in a small Idaho town and me, well I grew up in a city in Southern California. We talked about staying out after dark and finding entertainment, we reflected on how it was big deal it was to tear your Schwynn Stingray bicycle apart and put it back together hoping to make it just a little bit faster. It was not uncommon for a group of us to set up a "Dirt Bike" track in a vacant field or to build a fort in that very same field with scrap lumber that we brought from home. The neighbor kids would spend endless summer hours building that fort. Come to think about it that may have been one of my first "Man Time" place where no girls were found.
Our conversations evloved into what legacy have we left for our children, have we taught them the things of life that are important, if they had to live on their own would they know how to change a tire or the oil on a car, would they be able to hammer a nail in straight? It is fair to say that my sons now know how to change a tire, it may take them longer that most, but they can do it. But they did not learn this skill until it was absolutely necessary, i.e. the car had a flat tire and they wanted to go somewhere and I was out of town.
So, a word of advice to those fathers that have young children, spend some "Man Time" with them, just you and your child and teach them to sit high on a lawn tractor, because it will be the simple things that they remember, not that you were able to defeat Dr. Zork in a video game, but that you were willing to spend time with them.So for right now, I am going to sit back on the lawn tractor at the "Man Store" and enjoy this moment, my "Man Time", just me and "Flip"...
Watching him sit on these tractors and seeing his face light up with delight is what fatherhood is all about. With the advent of video games and other electronic gagets to "waste" our children's time it is fun to see something as simple as sitting on a lawn tractor entertaining a child.
A while back a good friend and I was reminissing about the "Good 'Ol Day's", no not back in the 1940's or 50's, but back when we were teenagers. He grew up in a small Idaho town and me, well I grew up in a city in Southern California. We talked about staying out after dark and finding entertainment, we reflected on how it was big deal it was to tear your Schwynn Stingray bicycle apart and put it back together hoping to make it just a little bit faster. It was not uncommon for a group of us to set up a "Dirt Bike" track in a vacant field or to build a fort in that very same field with scrap lumber that we brought from home. The neighbor kids would spend endless summer hours building that fort. Come to think about it that may have been one of my first "Man Time" place where no girls were found.
Our conversations evloved into what legacy have we left for our children, have we taught them the things of life that are important, if they had to live on their own would they know how to change a tire or the oil on a car, would they be able to hammer a nail in straight? It is fair to say that my sons now know how to change a tire, it may take them longer that most, but they can do it. But they did not learn this skill until it was absolutely necessary, i.e. the car had a flat tire and they wanted to go somewhere and I was out of town.
So, a word of advice to those fathers that have young children, spend some "Man Time" with them, just you and your child and teach them to sit high on a lawn tractor, because it will be the simple things that they remember, not that you were able to defeat Dr. Zork in a video game, but that you were willing to spend time with them.So for right now, I am going to sit back on the lawn tractor at the "Man Store" and enjoy this moment, my "Man Time", just me and "Flip"...
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