Time in a Bottle

I now know why grandparents, most anyway, are much better at grand parenting than they were at parenting.

My son, Lucas is 22 years old. I look back on that time during his childhood and wonder where the hell it all went while I wasn't looking. Now that he is a grown man I find myself trying to make up for all that time we spent apart..him in school, me at work. The big "Cats in the Cradle" scenario I suppose. Unfortunately you can't ever get that time back and you find yourself thinking about all the ways you could have been a more engaged parent. "A day late and a dollar short."

I think grandparents realize all the precious time that was wasted while their kids were growing up and attempt to "right the wrong" with their grandchildren.

Well, I don't have any grandchildren yet but I did have my second child later in life. In the twelve year difference between my kids I did manage to learn a little bit about quality time and what's important. I'm far from perfect or even good for that matter, but at least I recognize.

So when Summer asked me to take her to the park yesterday I didn't turn her down....even though it felt 100 degrees outside and I would have much rather been sitting around reading a magazine or watching t.v. in the a/c.

The payoff was well worth the sweat. We played some basketball, tennis, (tennis consisted mostly of me chasing the ball she swatted way out of range, but hell I need the exercise anyway) walking the trail inspecting grasshoppers and beetles, and fishing.




I was impressed with Sum's ingenuity. She really wanted to fish in the stocked pond. Before I knew it she had found herself a long stick, some spare fishing line laying around and a discarded hook. After she made her a pole she found some stale bread on the ground and began fishing.





Now, I knew she wouldn't catch anything with her make-shift pole but I was pretty impressed with her determination and attempt.

After a couple of hours she decided that she had got her fill of fishing, the park, and the heat. On the way home, we topped the day off with an ice cream treat.

Time well spent I would say. "Life is not measured by how many breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away."