Green and Sons

     While I've written a lot about fatherhood for this blog and in my eventual book, as the title would lead you to believe, I have not yet written in-depth about my own father.  While my Father's Day really happened a week early, I spent the actual day on the road and wasn't able to see my own dad.  He and I spoke on the phone, and we'd given him his present when we saw him during our last trip to my hometown.  Of course, I could give him presents every day for the rest of his life and still not be able to repay him for the gift he gave me, one which had a defining impact on my life:  he raised me no differently than my other two brothers.

Signed, Sealed, Undelivered

     Two nights ago, my son got upset with me for disciplining him.  He, in his six year old mind, felt my request that he speak more kindly to me was unreasonable.  I saw him get out a piece of paper and a pencil, but assumed the only thing he'd created was the drawing he showed me before he went to bed.  Yesterday morning, I realized I was wrong, when I found this note on the floor of his room.  When I showed it to him, he apologized for making it and said it wasn't true.  He said he just wrote it for himself and didn't want me to see it.  But that doesn't change the fact that it is literally my favorite thing he as ever created.

     Because it perfectly captures his improving (but incomplete) understanding of the use of air quotes, (he "always" cracks us up when he "uses" them when he talks) and because it is a "frozen moment" which encapsulates the innocence and mindset of my son, I feel absolutely blessed to have this note.  

     And I hope the statement he wrote is never actually true.  I will continue to strive to be the sort of dad who is friends with his son without him losing respect for me; without pandering to him or taking the easy road to gaining his favor.  That strategy has served me well so far as both a father and a teacher.  Most of all, this note reminds me that my son will not always be six, and I need to cherish every moment I have with him, even (and especially) the moments where he channels his adorable anger into priceless written declarations.

The Little Things ARE the Big Things

  While on vacation in Disney World I had many opportunities to notice the differences between this year's trip and last year's, when I was on oxygen 24/7 and rode a scooter nearly everywhere I went.  Some of these moments were big and obvious and amazing, while many others were small, revealing themselves quietly or only dawning on me after the fact.  And is is these moments which we all too often overlook, only appreciating once we've lost them.  As such, I relish being able to reflect on them now.

"Never Tell Me the Odds."

     My Father's Day experience this year consisted mostly of driving from Kentucky to Michigan as we returned home from our vacation in Florida.  But my transcendent moment as a dad came a week earlier, when I was able to use my new lungs to propel my son and I into an experience of a lifetime at Hollywood Studio's Star Wars Weekend.

Visiting Gift of Life Michigan: An Unexpected Stop on the Gratitude Train

     I thought today was simply about a photo op.  About dropping off a check.  I was so wrong.  And I am so glad that I was.  At the start of the 2014-15 school year, the STEM Academy coordinator at my school did what's she's done every year since she took on the role.  She encouraged her students to choose an organization to raise money for-- one with some connection to Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics.  But this year Danielle solicited ideas from the community, to bring in more ideas and more interested parties.  I emailed her, as did one of my colleagues, suggesting that they choose Gift of Life Michigan.  It made the list of fourteen potential groups that the students could choose from.  The leadership council, which included a few of the students who had been in my classroom on the last day I taught prior to going on medical leave, looked at the list and said, "We don't even need to vote.  We're doing this for Mr. Green."

Some Pain, All Gain

     On our first full day at Disney World, my experiences added another layer of appreciation to an already multitiered gratitude tower.  At no point during the day did my health impact our experience. It would have been possible to put the ease with with we walked around and enjoyed the Magic Kingdom as a family in the back of my mind, but I'm grateful that my body gave me an achy reminder all the way home.  

My Own Personal Super Bowl

     We kicked off our 2015 Disney World vacation by "righting a wrong" from last year.  I had not planned to do anything with my son on the football field at the All Star Sports resort during our trip in 2014, because we didn't even know it existed.  But had we been aware of it, my need for supplemental oxygen and use of a motorized scooter would have made it difficult to play with him on it.  After we arrived and saw how much he wanted to play with us on the field, we bought a football at the gift shop so I could at least throw a ball to him.  While it was nice to toss it to him as I stood next to my scooter, it was almost too tantalizing to a five year old who longed for me to be able to chase him as he spun and juked toward the end zone.  To make the most of a less than ideal situation, he and I made a routine of racing to the goal posts as we crossed the field to get from our room to the bus pick-up drop off area each morning.