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Hey Dad,

Hope you had a great Christmas with your family. Like I always say, "Any Christmas that you can walk away from is a good one."

With Christmas behind us, it's time to head off down the trail of another year of fathering. The thing we want to avoid is regrets. So this week and next we're going to take a good long look at ourselves in the mirror and be painfully honest (which is hard for us guys because we look in the mirror, suck in our gut, flex our flabby muscles, and think … "I've still got it.")

There are times in a dad's life when he has to make changes if necessary—because he's 'da dad.

That's why I'm planning to make a significant change in 2004. I even hate to mention it because you guys are gonna hold me to it, and if my wife sees this she's going to be skeptical of my good intentions.

Okay, here it is (drum roll please)—I'm going to TRY to go to bed at the same time as my wife. Ha! There I said it.

See the problem is that my wife likes to go to bed early. I, on the other hand, love that magical time when all the kids are in bed, and I can do anything I want without distraction … BUT … the trade-off is that I miss out on the best part of being married.

In bed, we talk. We talk about kids, school, dreams, and annoyances. Sometimes we don't talk at all, but even then, we're still together. I know my wife likes it when we go to bed at the same time—she's mentioned it on more than one occasion.

So the last several nights, without explanation, I've volunteered to go to bed when she does.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, "Yeah, but what does it matter if you go to bed at different times?"

My answer—It just does. I know some of you can't because of different work shifts. Besides, I'm not asking you to do my goal. I'm just doing what I know I need to do. No excuses, no reasons … I'm just doing it.

But I will ask you, Dad, what do you need to do?

You 'da dad!

©Copyright Todd Wilson, 2003. Used by permission.

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