Bangarang!

I recently discovered an article posted on another dad blog about the loss of adventure for kids these days. I can do my best to suspend nostalgia, and still imagine days and evenings overflowing with adventure when I was a kid. The woods across the street from my neighborhood, the clearing behind Nathan’s house, even the 50 foot long dirt bike-path that I took as a short cut to school.
This great article points out the extreme choke-hold parents put on their kids’ imaginations because of irrational fear of abduction or some other monster. Did you know that no more kids are abducted today than were abducted 50 years ago? It’s about 115 kids a year. Terrible, I know, but I think because of the availability of information these days (we have 24 hour news channels that have to find something to talk about), parents are tempted, or even forced by fear, into cutting their kids off from the mysteries and adventures that have filled suburban childhoods since suburbia first showed up.

The obvious dad tip is to let your kids play. The trick will be finding a balance between dad’s theory (“What are the odds that anything will happen”), and your wife’s theory (Our child is going to get kidnapped tomorrow”). I guess the best thing you could do is move next to some kind of protected public land somewhere; or just near an acre of trees even.

Three years!

On this day 3 years ago I woke up at about 5:00 in the morning, as nervous as I can remember being. I wasn’t nervous about what I was about to commit to, but about doing it in front of 250 people. Well, I made it through without sweating through my suit and I can honestly say that my life every day since then has been better than the day before. Also, it recently occurred to me that we've been married longer than we were dating/engaged. That is crazy! I guess time flies when you don't spend hours and hours making out.

Coincidentally, last night Valerie and I finished our first monthly budget with the impetus given us by Financial Peace University. Cheesy name, I agree, but this junk works. For the first time in my life I would say that I am completely comfortable with our finances. I can also say that income-wise we are the most strapped we’ve ever been. What a miracle that these two things can coincide! But, we’re absolutely committed to living within our means. So much so that to celebrate our third anniversary we are foregoing the original plans of getting sushi at Dragonfly, the best sushi restaurant in town, and instead going to Leonardo’s for good pizza served by Gainesville’s “I’m-so-indie-I-wear-my-attitude-on-my-tattoo-sleeve” finest. I can’t begin to tell you how much more I will enjoy Leonardo’s, eating peacefully within our means with a wife that is, in every aspect of our life, on the same page as me and infinitely supportive of me.

Dad tip? Listen to your wife when she is concerned about finances. Don’t take it personal even though it is on your shoulders to provide. And for a second, free dad tip, make your requests made known to God, because what if He really does care for you?