The days are long, but the years are short (part four!).
Tomorrow is my son’s fourth birthday. Still seems like just yesterday we were packing an overnight bag enroute to the hospital.
Reflecting on another busy year as a father of two, I’m updating the list of things that I’ve learned in the last 365 days of Dad Life:
- Raising children never gets easier. It getsdifferentas you enter new seasons of their lives
- Daycare is still the best check we write every month
- Cancer sucks
- Calling stitches “String Band-Aids” makes them seem way less scary
- The best time to learn this, of course, is at 10PM on the Monday night of a holiday weekend
- Girls with older brothers hit back. And hard.
- Nothing revitalizes me more than walking 18 holes of golf
- It’s even more revitalizing when the golf holes are in Scotland
- Colorado has the best collection of outdoor music venues of any state in the country
- Expectations matter
- The Chicago Bears still stink. Evergreen at this point
- Near misses continue to be the biggest driver of behavioral change
- Kids are virtually certain to get sick the day before a trip
- I’m adding Flu-A to the list of illnesses I’d be ok with never having again
- Norovirus is still a first ballot hall of famer in this category
- People are generally happier when the stock market is up
- The stock market is guaranteed to get turbulent the minute I go on vacation
- Fall is still the best season
- Having a partner to share in the craziness, the ups and downs, the good times and bad times is still paramount—I would be lost without mine
Finally, your annual reminder: Call your family. Turn off the news. Take the risk. Go to the concert. Put down your phone. Share your feelings. Get outside. Take the trip. Order dessert. You only get one shot at life so enjoy the ride. Whatever you do, spend the time, I promise you won’t regret it.
Will