Men and Little Men

Father’s Day

I was just talking with my male friends and somehow our conversation gravitated to our need to keep busy at home … at least to have the appearance of keeping busy. One of the guys was semi-retired and he said his weekends were actually busier than his week days. He is forced to go shopping and do errands with his wife. Another said he would spend hours away from home because at least he was free to manage his time. Wives, did you know you have this effect with your husbands?

Why do house chores only come from the wives? Why don’t husbands have a list for their wives? One guy said that he was trained not to give orders. He found out early in their marriage that each favor he would ask of his wife was reciprocated with 3 from her. Another said he preempted everything that needed fixing rather than admit it was an order from his wife. When I mentioned it was Father’s Day this Sunday, we all laughed because now we would have to work double time to make our wives happy. Happy Father’s Day! Good luck!

Home Camping

Many have asked me to report on our Home Camping this past weekend. It was a huge success. Here are some lessons learned.

• Share your itinerary with the parents first to get their cooperation and approval.
• If you have a partner, be sure you are in agreement on what needs to be done. Lift each other up. Don’t disagree in front of the kids.
• Don’t be too strict with your schedule (thanks Rick of Covina, CA for your great advice). Allow the parents to hand them over at their convenience. Just go with the flow and remember to have fun.

Pickled Eggs:

• Do put your eggs in “one basket” – when it comes to boiling 13 dozen eggs, it’s easier to dump them in a vat and cook them at the same time.
• I was afraid I bought too many eggs but several dozen eggs was actually perfect. I got about a dozen 32 oz jars of pickled eggs.
• Make sure there is enough room in the refrigerator for at leat 2 weeks of marination.
• Letting the kids watch the procedures in a video helped get them interested.
• The hardest part is removing the shells. Immersing the hot eggs in cold water didn’t help that much. It was too delicate to trust my kids to do it and it took me 2 hours and my thumb was all sore.

More Lessons:

• We taught them to prepare all the meals. They learned to make salad and cook corned beef, pork chops, salmon, toast, bacon and eggs.
• No they did not handle the knife. They were afraid to.
• We let the kids pray before meals and we got some insight into their world.
• We learned subtle family dynamics — who’s the alpha child and who needed a boost in self confidence.
• We taught them how to act properly with our cats and dogs … how to always be in control.
• We shared Jesus’ The Parable of the Prodigal Son. They didn’t know what a parable was and that Jesus actually told stories. They learned to look below the surface of events. We assured them of our love and God’s love.
• I shared my Pink Ping Pong Balls joke (see last week’s TGIF Joke) and they kinda got it after I explained what was happening. Now it’s an inside joke between us.
• When my wife and I got tired, and needed to recharge, we were glad they could occupy their time with video games and educational cartoons like the Magic Schoolbus and audio stories like Paws and Tails.
• I gave each of them a riddle to find $10 for spending money.
• Then I showed them how to determine the best products in a grocery store. We bought chicken, ice cream and bananas.
• The highlight of their time was the video recording of my song (My Corgi and Me) which I am sharing below.
• After they learned the song, I showed them how to play it with their kid guitar. Who cares if we sounded terrible. We had fun. We recorded it.
• We realize this is just the start of a new (more meaningful) relationship because when they were leaving, they asked when we would do it again.

I encourage all of you to do your own Home Camping. It gave the parents much needed date time. If you have another parent willing to do this, take turns being the host. Hopefully, do it when your kids are still impressionable … when they still listen. Camp with no more than 2 or 3 kids at time so you get to know them individually. I can’t believe we accomplished all of that in one weekend (Saturday AM to Sunday PM). This is a weekend we will never ever forget … a weekend our boys felt special and loved.

Please share if you do your own Home Camping. You will have the opportunity to shape their character. Let’s start a generation of well rounded citizens.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. ” — Ephesians 6:1-4

TGIF people!
Raoul

Thanks to Mel of Washington, D.C.

Video of the Week

This is the recording of our Home Camping. It’s about Tonka and Tinker, our two corgis, who bring smiles to all who see them walking in the streets. My grandkids took the video and joined my wife in the singing. I hope you like it.

If you are interested, I put the lyrics and the chords HERE.

Father’s Day Parting Shots

Thanks to Kathy of Bend, Oregon

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Home Camping

I’ve always wished my Dad or my grand Dad would have spent more time with me when I was growing up. I wish I had more talks with my own kids. I kept on postponing until the opportunity ceased to present itself. I realize now that one has to be deliberate about these teachable moments. So next weekend, I’m going camping with my 2 grand kids. But this won’t be outdoor camping. It will be pitching a tent in our living room.

For a long time now I’ve often thought about spending time with my two boys to share some grandfatherly wisdom about life. A year would come and at the end of the year all I would have are good intentions. This year will be different. I’ve got permission from my wife and from their parents. I’ve never done this before … I just thought about it. The adventure starts next Saturday. Pending the approval of their parents, I plan to:

• give them an allowance and they will need to buy ingredients for lunch and dinner.
• teach them how to use a knife to cut vegetables and cut a whole chicken apart.
• teach them about different spices and when to use them
• prepare a hunting guessing game where they will take turns reading a clue to find a reward … help them to think on their feet
• read them the parable of the Prodigal Son over an artificial TV campfire. We will disect it from different character viewpoints and we will learn about relationships between men and God. I hope they ask a lot of questions.

We might watch a good family movie and then it will be time to snuggle up in the tent — protected from the wild animals (our cats and dogs) outside. I’ll probably let them sleep in the tent while I sleep in the couch beside them. When morning comes, we will prepare breakfast. Then take a 45 minute walk with our dogs. We will go to the park and play baseball or basketball — anything to make them sweat. With my bad back, this might be a challenge but I will do it for them. I will teach them:

• about fairness, winning and losing
• how to play the guitar and appreciate music
• about money, how it is earned and the pitfalls of greed
• about respect
• about friendship
• how to be a gentleman
• about the chains of addiction in its many forms now … because it’s easier to be objective about addiction before you are in it
• about sex … well, maybe not yet. But if they ask, I will give them the basics
• about love and attraction.
• that there are people who will love them and never abandon them no matter what happens in life.
• most importantly about our amazing God

I know this list is very ambitious for a single weekend but I will try. The world is so different from the world we grew up in. If we let our kids discover things by themselves, the negativity will overpower them. I will be giving them the armor they need to fend for themselves.

I could use your prayers for this occasion. I could use your advice. Who knows? You might want to do the same with your kids. This may be the start of 2 men who will make the world a better place for all of us.

TGIF people!
Raoul

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena for this sad joke.

Thanks to Rodney of Manitoba, B.C.

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