Being a husband and a father is wonderful.
I have always thought to myself that being a dad was going to be awesome because I'll be able to teach my kids things I wish I had been taught. With 3 daughters and 2 sons there is lots of education going on daily.
I'll say I am not as motivated as I should be sometimes. But I'll chalk that up to the fact that some of the tasks I want to teach them are things I still need to learn.
When they grow up I want them to say that I always showed them how to improve things. I hope they will say that they learned how to innovate.
My wife will laugh because I usually complain about her tweaks and changes. She loves to move furniture and is constantly coming up with new projects. I usually complain because I don't want to move things 2 inches to the left for aesthetics or appearances. I want it to work and if it does, then awesome. But, if there is something that makes it work better, I am game for giving it a try, even when I don't see the benefit.
Having a hobby farm on 5 acres has definitely given us a very long list of things to learn about. Neither my wife or I grew up doing this, we were both city kids that are now learning as we go. We enjoy it and the kids get to grow up learning about animals and all that comes with it.
Usually, I have my Josiah join me to work on projects or improvements. Recently, we had some raccoons break into the chicken's hoop house and we needed to re-secure the chicken wire. He had a great time helping get the tools and wire cutters and being a part of the process. We did a good job together and he stayed for almost all the job. He wanted to do more of the finishing touches making it a nice home for the chickens after he did a few strands of wire to attach the netting. Once I finished up, I called him back to do the finishing setup for the chickens.
Later, he went inside to work on homeschool with mom. She said that he came in from working with me on the project and had a really good attitude and focus. She said it was probably from being able to help do some good work before getting started and spending some quality time with me.
I was thrilled to get the affirmation, which is my biggest motivator. That is what parenting is about, teaching your kids how to do a good job and be positive. Working hard on something that they may not see as being a fun chore or task still has a positive impact on their behavior.
I know working on a chicken hoop house isn't something that is done daily or can be relatable to everyone. My kids get to help out or watch me struggle to do other tasks and chores around the house, too.
I recently had to snake the kitchen drain which was a very large job for me as I hate all things plumbing and water related. I let them hold the light and I was able to explain the catch and show how it connects under the sink. They got to see that when you open it up all that water will spill out all over you before you can work on the drain. Obviously, there was extra, nasty, water since it was clogged so that made it fun.
It took me 3 days to finally break down the clog because I had to wait for a tool and then go further into the pipe at a basement access point. Luckily, it was resolved and while I learned I was able to show all the kids something that I had never even done on my own before.
I guess it's one good thing I can say that happened during lockdown. I wasn't about to call someone to stand in our kitchen when my 4 year old, immunocompromised kiddo runs through hourly to get milk or snacks.
It was a good learning moment I don't know what they will remember or how it appeared to them. I can only hope that if or when it happens again (I'm sure it will) they will be able to remember some. Maybe they will be able to do some of it now that I am confident and can guide them.
There are so many more things I wish to share with them as they grow older, but for now they get to watch me learn and hopefully don't see me lose my temper too often, Instead, I hope they are able to see how I overcome it and still get the job done, or how I improved something that wasn't working well before. Most of all, I hope that they see my willingness to jump into an unfamiliar task with confidence, even if it doesn't end up going as I expect.
Sure, I plan to be there for them in the future, when their apartment plumbing clogs or their car breaks down. But I also want them to have confidence that they can do the job even without me or with just a text or video call- whatever we have in the future. I imagine in return, they'll have to teach me how to use some of that future tech.
Until the next adventure.
Daddo
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