Not really kid related, but I guess it is in a way. I've been thinking about my life, now at thirty years old, with the kids getting older every day. There are times that the kids want to do X or Y but I am so set in my lifestyle that I don't have the energy or whatever to do it. So I've started yet again on the path to losing some weight, getting in to some semblance of good shape, so I can be able to do things with them that either they want to do, or that I want to experience more with them. Things like more outdoor activities, for one. Not that I am anti outdoors by any stretch of the imagination. I long for the weekend camping trips, the fishing trips, the hikes and bike rides and everything, hell, even the sitting outside, away from the glow of the ipad or the television or whatever. Summer is still a while away (and with temperatures below zero this coming week, it really feels like it) but really,I ts not that far. Spring is even closer. Henry wants to go camping, I know. We did it last summer in the back yard, and it was one of his favorite things. Perhaps a mid-spring camp out is in order.
He's also really interested in fishing, and so am I. Although every time I think about fishing, I think of the time when I went fishing and the fish completely swallowed the hook instead of it just getting caught in the mouth area, seeing the fish die in my hand as I tried to work the hook loose. How much suffering did that fish go through at my hand? I don't know. Hell, it was what, fifteen years ago? The fish would be long dead by now anyway. But I think about it whenever I think of fishing. It won't keep me from doing it again, especially if Henry and Ian are really itching to give it a go. But I worry about them seeing the same kind of thing. I know it's impossible to keep them from knowing about suffering, and it would be completely shitty of me to try to protect them from real life, but hell, I'm their dad, and it's still hard to see them deal with hard situations.
But at the same time, I want them to know what the world is really like. I want them to realize that yeah, things get hurt, things die. Life is finite, and they need to make the most of it. I just want them to realize that before they are thirty, too.
