Playing Like My Dad

One of the things I appreciate now more than ever before is how much my dad played with my brother and me as we grew up. He was great. Whether it was playing with Hot Wheels or playing Hide-and-Go-Seek, he always seemed ready and willing to play.

What makes this more amazing to me is that for the majority of my "childhood" years my dad built homes. In the summer heat or winter cold he worked long, hard days. To come home physically exhausted and then find the strength and energy (not to mention patience) to play with two little boys is impressive.

I think of this when I come home from my office job. The highlight of my day is walking in through the door and, as the alarm system chimes that the door has opened, having my oldest son come running from wherever he is in the house yelling, "DADDY'S HOME!" He runs to me and immediately asks, "Daddy, do you want to play cars?" (or trains, etc...) There are many days that I live for that moment, and yet, there are some days that I am so stinking worn out that all I want to do is lay down on the floor and sleep. But then I think of my dad...

I want my sons to grow up and have memories of me playing with them - often - not memories of me putting them off. Memories like I have of my dad.

One other nagging thought that sometimes eats at the back of my mind is the realization that they won't always want to play with me. There is coming a time, at some indefinite point in the future, when they will be more interested in playing with their friends than playing with me. It is a natural part of growing up, I know, but it will still be a sad day for me. Therefore, I want to remind myself to soak up as much of this as I can now. To play with them while they still want to play with me.