Two nights ago, my wife organized a backyard camping party for AJ, Buppa, and Me. Its was pretty stankin' awesome. We had a mini fire pit, roasted marshmallows, my three person tent, the futon mattress and several storybooks. AJ had a blast. Granted, the one thing he really remembers from the evening is that dang flashlight (you go through so much work and they remember and love the WEIRDEST THING), but he was on his best behavior that whole evening. Buppa eventually went home and AJ and I were left to sleep in the tent. You may not know this but i had to rock AJ to sleep for most of his life, so the idea of him just "falling asleep" in a tent didn't seem that possible to me. He told me stories, played with the tent zipper, played with the flashlight, played with my face and then, i fell alseep. I have no clue what happened after that but 3 hours later i woke up, freezing and Aj was sound asleep next to me. It had happened, AJ and I slept in a tent in our backyard. SUCCESS.The after thought of our little adventure is a tough one for me. The truth is, i'm tired. The American dream isn't really dreamy at all. Its hard. You work darn hard to pay for that house, and cars and babies and stuff and then you come home to work on that house and car. The thing that usually gets left to last of the list is the relationships. And again, being honest (I think i shouldn't write this early...i'm feeling very honest!) i give the kids the last little bit of attention i have and then muster maybe 20 minutes of actual conversation for my wife. This isn't want i want to be.
When i first started this list i had a friend tell me with concern that i might be taking on too much. How am i supposed to do all these things and still take care of my family and work and blah blah blah? And then August came and i did nothing. I became embarrassed and defeated that i couldn't keep my word and felt like there was no way i could do all this stuff.
But i've got to try. This list will give me memories and time with my wife, kids and friends. When i'm so caught up in work, this will refocus me on doing fun things with people!
So here i go, round two and there is a lot left to do!
