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Hey Dad,

I'm all alone by myself: no wife, no kids (except for Caleb [7 weeks], but he's asleep). NO, THEY DIDN'T LEAVE ME, although I wouldn't blame them at times. This is the first time in seven weeks that I've found myself in such a predicament. Up until right now, it's been wall-to-wall Wilsons.

They left me behind to do some work while they check out the pool at this state park in Virginia. It's been a whirlwind of activity since I wrote last, but we did find a few hours last week to sit and enjoy the pool at Fort Wilderness Campground in Orlando, FL.

Actually, I just wanted to SIT and enjoy doing nothing while the kids played in the pool, but some other "outside" kid ruined that idea.

It was great up until that point. The kids were playing nicely while I watched from a cozy deck chair under a shady canopy.

Then along came Mr. Outsider. One minute he wasn't there and I was enjoying doing nothing; and the next minute, he was there, and I was forced into a father decision-making mode.

My choices were these: 1) I could continue to sit there (which I was really enjoying) and let my kids interact with this other kid that I knew nothing about, or what they might talk about, or what he might expose them to. I could just assume he was an okay kid and that he probably came from a good family who had taught him the same values as I had taught my kids. Or, 2) I could assume nothing and get out of my chair and make sure I was there, guarding, watching, and protecting my kids.

I wish I could say I was out of my easy chair before I had finished considering my options, but it really was a nice, comfortable chair, and the water looked colder than usual. But these were my kids I was talking about.

So I dragged my carcass out of the chair, whipped off my shirt, and waded into the cold water to make sure everything was okay.

Later, I was reminded that I am going to need to be even more involved in their extracurricular activities as they get older. And that can only mean one thing—less time for MY extracurricular activities.

If I'm not around to do the things my kids like to do, well then, they'll find someone else who is around to do those things with. And it might just be someone who doesn't think and believe like I do.

So, Dad, here's a challenge for you and for me. Let's get off our lawn chair, out of the A/C, and off the sidelines and get in there so we can be the greatest influence in our children's lives. If you and I don't, someone else will.

Is that overprotecting? You bet. And that's what dads do.

You 'da dad,

© 2006 Todd Wilson. Used by permission.

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