This post was going to be called “The Cellphone Dilemma” and include some epic content but then I remembered 5 Reasons Why I Hate Your Epic Content and went a different direction.
Read through the blog and you’ll see me make fun of list posts like Five Things I Know About Writing but sometimes they are necessary because there are weekends where you encounter people who beg for the wrong kind of attention and have nights where you spend hours trying to figure out which plugin has decided to melt down.
So instead of describing how you thought had made a decision to purchase a Samsung S3 as the upgrade on your smartphone but now are considering the Galaxy Note 2 you are writing about…other things.
Roll With The Changes
It is kind of funny how I protected my childrens’ eyes and ears yesterday and then let loose with a stream of colorful language that would make a sailor blush today. I won’t lie and say I was embarrassed or ashamed by it because that is not true. I wasn’t.
But I was frustrated by a million different things and some of it came out. It is ok for them to see me show emotion because I am as human as the next guy but sometimes…
When we told the kids that we were selling they house they both cried and begged to save it. It was hard and it wasn’t long before I was the only one who wasn’t crying, but that is not how I operate.
The tears don’t roll down my cheeks that easily and it just doesn’t happen in front of the family. Those are moments I don’t share easily and that is not always a good thing. It will take a good long while before I forget about that final night in the house.
Maybe I am not a 21st Century Father because I don’t know how to just let go like some of the other fellas do. But I think about it.
“He thinks that I don’t cry because I am tough but doesn’t understand the price that I have paid for that. He doesn’t know that there have been more than a handful of moments where I screamed at the moon and demanded that I be given a fair fight. He doesn’t know that I have spent more time than I care to think about walking through hell covered in gasoline because I thought that was what I had to do.
I did it because I thought that it was the right thing to do. I subjugated my own need for certain things because I thought that it was necessary and right. The melodramatic side of me would tell you that I did it because I wanted to be righteous and needed to feel like I did no less than my own father and grandfathers.
See, I look at those men and see role models that I should have done better following. The funny thing about it is that I know lots more about them all now than I once did. I was fortunate enough to have decades of life alongside my grandfathers as not just a child but an adult.”
Broad Shoulders and Soccer Moments
The boys on my son’s soccer team quit during their last game. The other team benefited from some bad calls and our guys quit. Things got tough and they rolled over.
It made me crazy, but I didn’t scream at them. Not my place, but when my son said something to me I asked him what he thought happened and he said they quit.
I told him there are moments like that and he needs to figure out what sort of response he is going to come up with. I told him that sometimes when you play hard the entire time you can get the other guys to rally around you.
When he asked me what I would have done I told him that if I was this age I would have run through two or three of the guys on the other team or come up with some other way to make a statement, but I am not 12 any more and I don’t know for certain what I would have done then.
“You have broad shoulders like I do. You have to figure out how to best use them.” He nodded and I let it go. It was a good lesson and he really does need to figure it out for himself.
Small Phone/Large Phone
I really do have large hands so I am not bothered by the size of the Galaxy Note 2. It is large enough some are referring to it as a phablet, or a cross between a phone and a tablet.
Yeah, I just flipped back from the dad blogging stuff over to the phone again and that is ok. Remember I said you need to roll with the changes and that is something I work on.
Can’t stop the world from changing or life from happening so all we can do is roll with it. And just when I think I have decided what phone I want Samsung introduces the Galaxy Note 2 for Verizon.
No worries about whether it will fit in my hand, but my pants pocket might be a different story.
New post coming up in five.
Carolyn
Wow, I can’t believe those boys quit in the middle of the last game. Not okay. Suck it up and keep going. How is that okay?
Wow, with big hands you really have your choice of phablets. Very cool.
Jack
Hi Carolyn,
It was rough. The boys are all between 11 and 12 so I give them a small break. Some of the bad calls took the wind out of their sails, but still you have to keep going.
We have a great coach and overall the parents are pretty good so I am sure some of those kids heard about it.
It was a bona fide teaching moment.