Parenting 1
The rewarding moments: what makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?
Many of our readers know the emotional challenges of parenting. In my case, I often feel uneasy about how much progress I am making, and whether I have my kids on the right path. The losses always seem more evident than the wins, and that can be discouraging. But sometimes…sometimes the world shows you that maybe, just maybe, you are doing ok.
My oldest son is 15 and was recently on winter break. He bounded out of his room one morning, and by bounded, I mean he slowly trudged his way down the hall with one eye half open and the other shut. He came into the kitchen, checked the clock on the microwave, and announced, “It’s 7:30. I really meant to sleep until 8:30.”
Looking at this…man?...standing in my kitchen, I silently wondered what was going to come next, especially since I had been up since 5:30 and was not exactly feeling sorry for him. And then he said the words I’ve been waiting 15 years to hear.
“That’s ok. I’ll just take a nap later.”
I had a feeling that I can only compare to the moment Sean says to Will “it’s not your fault,” or when my allergies start up in a dusty room. A bit of wetness protruded from my lower eyelid.
Maybe I’m figuring out this parenting gig after all.
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Upon rereading this, I must say I'm impressed by your ability to reason with yourself, at such an early hour, to work out and not go back to sleep. I generally feel like I wake up more easily in the event of a "need to have" (e.g., flight) vs. a "nice to have" (e.g., getting up early to work out), and while there have been times in my life that I've viewed working out as a "need to have," I've been lazy in recent months.
With that, I'll caveat my comments by noting that I'm not currently gainfully employed (you know this, but I share for the benefit of our readers). OK. So these days I wake up at the latest of when (a) my alarm goes off (these days, I try to not schedule anything before 9am), (b) my small children wrest me from sleep, or (c) the spirit moves me (often 9-9:30am). I wonder if I could strategically plan my schedule (including naps, which I'd say are critical at this point in my life) to optimize for the pillars for my weeknight life -- that is: (a) having dinner with my family, (b) getting my kids to bed, and (c) time with my wife. If I could work consistent exercise into there, that much better.
#naspsrule
I live this. Best post yet. Pulls at the heartstrings, yet replete with good will hunting .