Reminiscing

Kara and I were recently looking at photo albums and reflected again on how time just slips by so seamlessly. It’s funny, we cannot “time travel” forward or back, and while the future is hard to imagine, the past is so tangible it is hard to forget. Ryan’s high-pitched voice and endearing lisp and Natalie’s little Buddha-belly are so fresh in my memory; it’s hard to admit that those days are gone.

I really enjoyed my days as a father to young children; no regrets. However, with the perspective of being a father of teens, there are a few things that I might have done differently. For example, I would have taken the time to really teach them that the phrase “Work before Play” is not just a handy family saying for small kids on a Saturday morning, but a principle for living. It is applicable to yard work, cleanliness, homework, scouting, and should be self-enforced.

I would have wrestled more with my son and given more “horsey rides” to my girls. I did these things, often, but I think I would have done more.

I would have planted more, harvested more, gone on a few more donut runs and been more creative with Play-Doh.

I would have spent less time on rules, more time on principles.   Less time defining the “line” between acceptable and unacceptable behavior; more time inspiring greatness through purity, modesty, and virtue. This would make “the line” irrelevant. (I don’t know how, but I would try.)

I would have spent more time caressing their little heads and showing affection. I doted on them when they were small, a lot, and the innate desire to show them affection has not waned, but they resist it now. I didn’t need photo albums to remind me that I miss that.